1979

DS 127

. 6 0 3 A83 1979

Institute for Palestine Studies

THE ARABS UNDER ISRAELI OCCUPATION

1979

prepared by Annual Series Section

INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES BEIRUT

1980

The Institute for Palestine Studies is an independent non-profit Arab research organization not affiliated to any government, political party or group, devoted to a better understanding of the Palestine problem. Books in the Institute series are published in the interest of public information. They represent the free expression of their authors and do not necessarily indicate the judgement or opinions of the Institute.

Copyright ©1980, by the Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut

INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES Anis Nsouli Street, Verdun, P.O.Box 11-7164

Beirut, Lebanon

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .. 1

I — Chronology .... A — Major Trends in Israeli Policy

towards the Occupied Territories ... .9 B — Israeli Practices in the

Occupied Territories .. 31 1. West Bank and Gaza Strip...32 2. Galilee and Negev. 98 3. Golan .......104

C — The Palestinian National Movement .105

II — Documents..... Documents A — The Palestinian National Movement.135 Documents B — Israeli Settlement Policy...148

Index 155

Introduction

The steadfast refusal of the Palestinians, under occupation, to yield an inch on the question of their national rights has presented a formidable obstacle to the Israeli authorities in their attempts to realise their fundamentally annexationist objectives with regard to the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the imposition of the administrative autonomy scheme.

The major events of 1979 in this context were the Egyptian-Israeli treaty, signed on 26 May, and the concomitant autonomy negotiations which got under way in May, as stipulated in the September 1978 Camp David accords. These events have confronted the Palestinian people with new dangers. This does not primarily lie in the fact that they signal Israel’s sudden determination to annnex the remainder of Palestine, for this in itself is nothing new. Since the occupation began in 1967 Israel has been pursuing a policy of establishing facts on the ground through land expropriation and building settlements. This has left little room for doubt that a complete withdrawal from these conquered territories was never contemplated by the Israeli authorities.

In this respect, there has been little difference between the policies of the present Likud government and its Labour predecessors. In its electoral programme issued in 1977, the Likud stated that the West Bank and Gaza Strip would “never” be evacuated and that “Greater Israel,” as conceived of following the June 1967 war, would remain. Inasmuch as this policy involves the denial of the rights of the Palestinian people it hardly diverges from the thinking of the previous post-1967 governments, which had consistently asserted their view that “territorial concessions” should in no way lead to the establishment of a Palestinian entity.

The real danger inherent in the 1979 treaty and the subsequent negotiations, as far as the Palestinian people under occupation are concerned, is that the Israelis will use their new-found security to launch an

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escalated campaign of terror and repression. Having gained, through the Camp David accords, US and Egyptian acquiescence in their vision of “Greater Israel,” the Israelis went on to ensure that the autonomy negotiations would proceed according to their own conditions. Sadat’s demands tabled in the course of the seven rounds of talks during the year were repeatedly brushed aside. The Israeli proposal to move immediately to the formation of “working groups” was ratified in the Alexandria talks of 5-6 July after the Egyptian requirement that a “declaration of principles” should first be made, was rejected at the Herzlia talks of 24-26 June. Similarly, the Israelis prevailed on the question of who should supervise the election of the administrative council in the West Bank and Gaza, when another concession from their Egyptian partners at the London meetings of 25-27 October enabled them to dispense with the notion of international controls.

The Israelis progressively steered the negotiations towards acceptance of the truncated autonomy they wish to impose on the Palestinians, a thinly disguised regime of institutionalised subordination to which almost one and a half million people are supposed to be subjected. The Israeli conception of autonomy was further elaborated during 1979, with government — approved plans and special reports1 drawn up spelling out in detail just where and how the most fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people are to be curtailed. In this respect, the Israeli scheme for administrative autonomy is quite consistent with the ideology from which it stems. The bedrock of Zionism is its negation of the very existence of the Palestinian people. And it is precisely because this people has resolutely refused to be cowed into submission and renounce its national rights that Israel has been pushed into intensifying its regime of terror.

The main practical complement to these ideological and theoretical formulations by the Zionist leaders has been the proliferation of- “faits accomplis” in the occupied territories. Determined that their control over the natural resources of the West Bank and Gaza Strip should continue under the autonomous administration, the Israeli authorities have reinforced their grip on the water resources of these territories and seized more and more land for settlement purposes.

The water policy of the Likud government in 1979 was based on accelerating the process of instituting a complete infrastructure in the occupied territories with a view to consolidating the Israeli colonial presence and.building up permanent supply networks to Jewish installations inside the parts of Palestine annexed in 1948. This policy has led to acute water shortages in a number of Palestinian towns and villages. The situation has been aggravated by the authorities’ refusal to allow the indigenous people to sink their own wells or build pumping stations. Much more serious, however, has been the severe damage caused by this policy to the economy of a traditionally agricultural region like the West Bank. The case of the complete dessication of the al-Auja area in the Jordan Valley is an indication of what lies in store for the West Bank as a whole if this policy is maintained,

1. See Section, A, p. 12 for the Elissar Report : p. 14 for Begin’s administrative autonomy plan.

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Colonisation, a practice which is of the very essence of Zionism., has taken on a new edge in the light of the administrative autonomy scheme. The establishment of settlements goes on apace with the objective of depriving the Palestinians of the territorial basis on which to found their state. In order to lay their hands on the maximum land, the Israeli authorities have undertaken to overturn the whole system of rural property ownership in force in the West Bank. Juggling with the definitions, they have gone as far as to consider private land which is unregistered to enter into the category of “state land,” which they deem theirs to do with as they wish. The Likud government, which is party to the notion that there is a “juridical void” in the West Bank, considers itself entitled to tailor this “void” to its own requirements. This accounts for the constant discourse on the alleged Jewish right to this territory and the Gaza Strip.

The settlement activity undertaken over 1979 shows that private land (registered or unregistered) under cultivation has been regularly expropriated with a view to establishing new settlements or expanding existing ones, or under the pretext that it is needed for military manoeuvres. The year witnessed feverish settlement activity on an unprecedented scale. In the West Bank, 11 new settlements were established ; 25 more were under construction (installation of permanent dwellings, infrastructural work, addition of new land, establishment of means of production etc.) ; three Nahal settlements were turned over to civilians ; two settlements were transferred to a permanent site. This veritable colonial fever aroused violent reactions among the Palestinian population, as numerous communiques were issued in denunciation and angry demonstrations were staged to protest fresh expropriations.

The fact that the administrative autonomy plan does not foreclose colonisation or its corollary, land expropriation, means that the various settlement plans can be situated in a precise context. Stemming from a number of different sources, these plans at first sight seem to be divergent. However, they have several common denominators. All of them favour the establishment of urban centres which would either encircle Palestinian towns or cut them off from each other. These centres are to be formed by means of the fusion of settlements in one “bloc” (Gush) or settlement complex. The function of these towns for Zionist settlers is, in a vain attempt to prevent the establishment of a cogent Palestinian political unity, to put an end to the existing territorial unity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The numerous declarations to this effect made by the doyens of Israeli colonisation reveal that these diverse considerations are very much germane to their thinking. The acceleration of the process under the Likud government since its rise to power in May 1977 was even more marked in 1979. This comes as confirmation of the statement made by Begin to the Cabinet on 22 April 1979 to the effect that the Likud’s settlement policy would continue to be based on the establishment of settlements in the north of the West Bank.2

It will also become evident, in the chronological survey of these developments which follows, that the settlements established in 1979 are all

2. Ma'ariv, 23/4/79, p. 4.

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destined to become parts of major blocs. Believing the installation of the autonomous council to be imminent, the Begin government is concerned to complete the projected blocs as soon as possible (see the Drobless plan).

The administrative autonomy plan, the first step in the definitive annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has made it possible for the Begin government to be “less discreet” than its predecessors as regards land expropriation and the establishment of settlements. This has become apparent on the level of the methods adopted. The most common method is to advance “security reasons” to camouflage the fact that expropriated land is destined for settlement and not “military ends.” Another common ploy is not to state directly the settlement for which the expropriated land is earmarked. Decisions to expropriate land, put private land “up for sale” without consulting its rightful owners, withhold building permits on land slated for expropriation, or order work to begin on the establishment of a settlement without so much as issuing an expropriation order — these are generally the ways in which the siting of a new settlement or the expansion of an existing one becomes known.

At the same time, the Likud government has consolidated its colonial presence by pouring more settlers into expanded settlements, and by arming the settler population. The expansion or development of settlements is not confined to allocating them more land, giving them permanent sites or according them a definite status. In view of the fact that according to the administrative autonomy plan the settlements would remain under Israeli jurisdiction, local and regional settlement councils began to be established in 1979. IL 100 million was devoted to the formation of these councils,3 which can be considered as rivals to the Palestinian municipalities. When the Israeli authorities declare that the autonomous council which will be established will only be empowered to deal with local affairs, and that this function will be carried under direct Israeli supervision, we can suppose that the progressive strangling of the municipal councils will be accompanied by a steady extension of the regional settlement councils, especially considering that many of the settlements are planned to achieve the status of towns.

The repression of the municipalities indeed was intensified over 1979 through various means, including the rejection of various municipal projects presented for approval, blocking funds destined for the municipalities, and eroding the powers of the mayors. The prime target has been the mayors themselves. In trying to get rid of the mayors, who were elected in 1976 on the platform of their support for the PLO, which they declared to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the Likud government is hoping that it will be left with a docile population on whom administrative autonomy can be imposed without much trouble. The mayors have thus been subjected to all kinds of harassment — restrictions on their freedom of movement, summonses to court, expulsion orders. The repression of the mayors is also clearly linked to the intensification of colonisation. In the case of the abortive attempt to deport Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak‘a this link was quite explicit, and no better expressed than

3. Le Monde Diplomatique, January 1979, p. 11.

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by the Israeli Agriculture Minister who said on November 25, at the height of the “al-Shak’a affair,” that settlement in the Nablus region was a “necessity” because this town constituted the vanguard of Palestinian nationalism.4

The arming of the settlers is not in itself anything new, as they were always authorised to carry weapons. What is new is their organisation with the support of the Begin government with a view to stamping out any movement with a nationalist tinge among the Palestinians. The grouping of settlers in armed militias is a foretaste of the functions which would be devolved to the “local police force” which an official report recommends should be established under administrative autonomy. The fact that the settlers implanted in densely populated regions of the West Bank are being actively encouraged to use their weapons against Palestinians indicates that the prospect of colonisation being pursued by force of arms is not far off. The Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful), the main settlement movement active in these regions, and presented by analysts of Israeli society as being a “fanatic ultra-rightist movement,” has campaigned tirelessly for the implantation of settlers in the very heart of Palestinian towns, with the ultimate goal of expelling all the Palestinians in order to make way for an unsullied “Greater Israel.” The prime means to be employed in the realisation of this goal is armed repression. 1979 saw Palestinian martyrs killed by settlers’ bullets as the process of colonial infiltration into Palestinian towns was given its first practical manifestation by the occupation of the al-Dibwiyeh building in Hebron by Gush Emunim settlers.

And so, the danger represented by colonisation goes further than the theft of territory. An armed colonial presence now means that the inhabitants of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 are under constant threat of violent physical suppression, and not just from the conventional security forces. The settlers, who have gone as far as to publish advertisements in the Israeli press in order to recruit new militiamen, are taking on all the appearances of the shock troops of colonisation. The location of settlements is such that practically every Palestinian town or village is within range of the settlers’ weapons. The settlements, in being transformed into armed bastions, are in effect being called upon to play a role complementary to that of the military barracks. This development could well be considered as no more than another face of the war of liquidation declared by the Israeli Knesset on 13 March 1978 against Palestinian militants “wherever they may be found.”

The repression of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli military aggressions against the Palestinian camps in South Lebanon, the racial discrimination practised against the Palestinians living in the territories annexed in 1948, are all essentially part of this war against the one and indivisible Palestinian people.

In the West Bank and Gaza, classical Zionist methods have been employed with the objective of stifling all opposition to the administrative autonomy plan proposed for the Palestinians. One method used by the occupation authorities in their attempts to cow the population into

4. Jerusalem Post, 26/11/79, p. 2.

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submission has been the systematic imposition of collective punishment, whereby whole towns or camps are subjected to an effective reign of terror. The major examples of this in 1979 were the long curfews clamped on Halhoul and on Jalazoun and Duheisha camps. Schoolchildren and students, whose opposition to the autonomy scheme has been articulated in a constant stream of demonstrations, have come in for particular punishment from the occupation forces. The proliferation of armed incursions into schools and universities and the prolonged closures of educational institutions give some indication of the extent of the occupation authorities’ fear as regards the upcoming generation of Palestinians. This fear has led to the introduction of new measures against them, such as the decision to apply “criminal legislation” to adolescents, which has resulted in long prison terms being handed down. Numerous cases of torture involving young Palestinians have also come to light.

In South Lebanon, as in Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian civilian population has been the victim of Israel’s bellicose and expansionist policies. The Israeli army, which occupied a significant portion of Lebanese territory during the hostilities with the Palestinians in 1978, has expansionist aims with regard to South Lebanon. 1979 saw an escalation in the number of military aggressions against Palestinian camps and Lebanese towns and villages in the region5. Hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were killed or wounded and the material damage was colossal, with houses destroyed, crops devastated, and shops and small industries flattened.

The signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel confronted the Palestinians of the territories annexed in 1948 with new and serious problems. The redeployment of the Israeli army in the Negev after the eventual withdrawal from the Sinai constitutes the gravest danger that the sedentary Bedouin tribes of the Negev have ever had to face. The projected “Negev Land Acquisition Law (Treaty With Egypt) 1979” puts the Bedouin’s land in jeopardy, and as such is an integral part of the Israeli government’s policy towards them. This involves forcibly “resettling” the Negev Bedouin in six urban centres, including Lagiya. The government wishes to transform the Bedouin, a traditionally arable and pastoral farming people, into an industrial labour force in the service of Jewish settlers. To this end, thousands of dunums have been expropriated and vast expanses of grazing land have been “closed off” and turned into “military zones.” The Green Patrols, formed in 1976 as a dependent of the Agriculture Ministry with the despoilment of the Bedouin in mind, has grown increasingly active.

Meanwhile, in Galilee 1979 saw the continued application of the principles of the Koenig Report, issued in 1976, involving the gradual paring away of the powers of the Arab municipalities and regional and local councils, and the seizure of land under the pretext of embarking on development programmes.

Confronted with all these dangers, the Palestinians have stepped up their own struggle. Drawing on the experience of the last thirteen years of

5. According to the figures of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in the period between March and August, the Israeli army notched up 148 military operations against South Lebanon, with an additional 13 air attacks and 14 seaborne raids.

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occupation, the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza have become increasingly active in holding at bay the Israelis’ annexationist onslaught. Having categorically rejected the Camp David accords, they have persisted in opposing all the consequences of these agreements, and in this they have enjoyed the total support of the Palestinians living in the territories annexed in 1948 and those who have been exiled from their homeland since 1948 or 1967. In this book we attempt to present all the manifold aspects of the Zionist policies towards the Palestinian people, and the oppressive reality of the implementation of these policies, alongside the steadfast struggle of the Palestinians under occupation for dignity and for the right to self-determination in a free and democratic Palestine.

Parallel to the struggle of the Palestinians under occupation has been that of the Syrians in the occupied Golan, who have also had to confront the annexationist Zionist policies. The constant threat of annexation has hung over them since the beginning of the occupation, and has been concretised by, among other things, the assiduous establishment of settlements. Maintaining that the Golan is an integral part of “Greater Israel,” the Israeli authorities have since 1967 set about creating as many faits accomplis as possible in this region. During 1979 plans for colonization for the Golan were elaborated^ in the same way as for the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Attempts were also made to “legalise” the situation brought about by the original conquest of the Golan. A petition signed by a number of Knesset members (MK’s) and demanding the annexation of the Syrian territory was the first open sign of this. However, as in the other occupied territories, the advance of Zionist expansion and annexation is doomed ultimately to failure.

This study, The Arabs Under Israeli Occupation, 1979, deals with these issues in the form of a three-part chronology : A — Major Trends in Israeli Policy Towards the Occupied Territories ; B — Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories (divided up into the three subdivisions of West Bank and Gaza, Galilee and Negev, and Golan) ; and C — The Palestinian National Movement. This section — Chronology — is based on the press. It is followed by a section of selected documents.

LIST OF SOURCES

a — Palestinian press

Al-Tali’a Arabic East Jerusalem weekly Al-Quds Arabic East Jerusalem daily Al-Fajr Arabic East Jerusalem daily Al-Sha’ab Arabic East Jerusalem daily

b — Israeli press

Al-Ittihad Arabic Haifa twice weekly Yediot Aharanot Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Davar Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Ha’aretz Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Ma’ariv Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Hatsofeh Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Al-Hamishmar Hebrew Tel Aviv daily Zu Haderekh Hebrew Tel Aviv weekly Jerusalem Post English West Jerusalem daily

c — International press

Le Monde French Paris daily Le Monde Diplomatique French Paris monthly Le Nouvel Observateur French Paris weekly New York Times English New York daily Time English New York weekly The Times English London daily'— The Sunday Times English London weekly The Guardian Weekly English Manchester weekly The Economist English London weekly New Statesman English London weekly International Herald Tribune English Paris daily Newsweek English New York weekly Middle East International English London monthly

I — Chronology

)

A - MAJOR TRENDS IN ISRAELI POLICY TOWARDS

THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Since the signing of the Camp David accords in September 1978, the problem of autonomy for the occupied territories has been central to Zionist strategy. The Israeli leaders have produced a number of approaches to this question (the Begin plan, the Ben Elissar report) and it is in this context that the government’s various policy decisions must be viewed, for example the decision to lift the prohibition on Jews purchasing land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or the decision to harness the water resources of these territories. The same is true for the various settlement plans, those of the Jewish Agency, the Defense Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry, and indeed every declaration on the occupied territories made by the Zionist ruling establishment.

In concentrating on the policies of the coalition in power, we have also laid emphasis on the Gush Emunim, for this settlement movement, as we hope to show, is an instrument used by the occupation authorities in the implementation of an effectively annexationist policy.

We have not given a chronology of all the steps in the negotiations between the Egyptian regime and the Israeli governement. We have however included certain important declarations made during this process, confirming that, in the eyes of the Zionist leaders, the future of the occupied territories is already sealed.

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2 January — Speaking before the parliamentary faction of the ruling Likud coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin congratulates himself on the “numerous settlements” established by his government. “We have already created a large number of settlements,” he says. “We shall continue along these lines, as and when we deem it necessary and at the appropriate pace.”1

9 January — During a press conference given in Jerusalem, Gush Emunim official Gershon Shafat declares that the decision to establish the settlement of Elon Moreh2 does not signal an end to the struggle waged by his movement. The Gush Emunim is demanding the implantation of 300,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank over the next five years.3

17 January — The parliamentary finance committee ratifies a budget of IL 740.8 million for the strengthening of settlements in the territories occupied in 1967 and for the Elutseh-Shomron highway, bisecting the West Bank from east to west. a) IL 60 million will be devoted to the construction of a 6 km. stretch of

road between Maradat and Tepuah, as part of the Hutseh-Shomron highway project.

b) The remainder — IL 680.8 million — will be allocated as follows : 1. IL 593.6 million for settlements in the West Bank :

— IL 58.2 million for the Jordan Valley settlements in which 86 housing units are to be constructed at (Gilgal, Na’aran, Argaman, Beka’ot, Massu’a, Mekhora and Kalia). — IL 14.4 million for the reinforcement of the Gush Etzion complex of settlements to the south of Bethlehem,4 through the construction of 10 housing units at Mighdal ‘Oz and 12 more at Alon Shvut. — IL 98 million for the construction of 75 housing units at Hares, and another IL 50 million for the work on the infrastructure of Shomron. Both these settlements are in the Nablus area. ( — IL 94 million for the construction of 75 housing units at Karnei Shomron settlement, established on the Abu al-Qarnein hills on the Nablus-Qalqilya road. — A special budget of IL 76 million, with additional credits of IL 203 million have been authorized for “supplementary reinforcement” of the settlement of Hares, Karnei Shomron and Giv’on, the latter situation to the northwest of Jerusalem.

1. Le Monde, 6/1/79, p. 6. 2. It should be noted that in 1978 a first settlement with the name of Elon Moreh was established on the land of the village of Kafr Qadduin, west of Nablus. In the framework of the Gush Emunim’s settlement plan, published in 1978 and calling for the establishment of a “Jewish Nablus” with a population of 60,000 settlers, nuclei for Elon Moreh launch a mass campaign from 1 to 8 January 1979 to obtain approval for colonisation on the outskirts of Nablus. On January 9, the Israeli government recognises the “Elon Moreh nuclei” as “candidates for settlement.” On 7 June a new settlement is established on the land of Rujib, southeast of Nablus, with the name of Elon Moreh. The old settlement henceforth was called Kadumin or Qaddum. It is the new settlement which is involved here. Cf. Section B, p. 148. 3. Al-Hamishmar, 10/1/79, p. 2. 4. In 1979, Gush Etzion was made up of the following settlements, in addition to the two already mentioned : Kfar Etzion, Rosh Tsurim, EEazar and Tekoa.

2. IL 77 million are earmarked for the Golan, where 112 housing units are to be constructed, spread between 11 settlements : Ramot, Eli’al, Yonatan, Neveh Ativ, Keshet, Har Odem, Sha’al, Geshour, Mevo Hama, Afid and Ma’aleh Gamla.

3. IL 10.2 million for the construction of 20 housing units in the Gaza Strip at Netzer Hazani and Katif.5

18 January — Education Minister Zevulun Hammer declares before the parliamentary faction of Mifdal (National Religious Party) that Israeli law should immediately be applied to the settlements on the West Bank — at least as far as administrative questions are concerned. Hammer stresses that Israel has no intention of “returning to the 1967 borders, even with minor modifications.”6

26 January — In an interview with the daily Maariv,7 Sharon takes up the arguments he outlined on 22 January in his address to the Mifdal* He states that, in the context of his plan for the West Bank, three “belts of settlements” will be established. 1. The first “would be 20 km. inside the Green Line9 in order to assure

strategic depth to the coastal plain.” To this end some of the existing settlements are to be transformed into major towns : Hares (150,000 inhabitants projected); Kadumim (50,000) \l 0 and Karnei Shomron (30,000). New urban centres and other types of settlements would also be established.

2. The second belt would be made up of the new settlements to be established in the Jordan Valley. (On 30 May, Sharon says that there will be 50 settlements in this belt.)11

3. The third would be made up of the satellite townships around Jerusalem. Sharon cites as examples Gush Etzion, Ma‘aleh Adumim, Rimonim, Kokhav Hashahar, Beit El and Giv’on. The City of Greater Jerusalem, thus formed, should have a million Jews

living in it within 20 to 30 years. If this figure is not attained, Sharon says, “Jerusalem will assuredly not be the capital of Israel.”

The land required for the realisation of this project would be seized. In fact, Sharon insists that it is the right moment to take decisions on the subject of the West Bank, and to press ahead with the seizure of land, the construction of water conduits and roads.

The West Bank “supplies more than a third of Israel’s water consumption... it is inconceivable that the question of water should be left to the Arab population...”1 2

5. Davar, 18/1/79, p. 2. 6. Al-Hamishmar, 19/1/79, p. 2. 7. Ma'ariv, 26/1/79, p. 28. 8. Ma'ariv, 23/1/79, p. 4. 9. By the Green Line the Israeli leaders denote the 1949 Armistice Line. 10. Hares was established in 1978 on the land of the Palestinian village of the same name and situated southwest of Nablus. In 1979 the Israeli authorities changed the name of the settlement to Ariel. Kadumim is the settlement which in 1978 was called Elon Moreh. 11. International Herald Tribune, 31/5/79, p. 2. 12. Ma‘aleh Adumim is situated 10 km. to the east of Jerusalem; Rimonim was established in 1977

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9 February - The committee of the directors general of various departments of the Israeli government, formed under the chairmanship of Eliahu Ben Elissar, Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, to study the implementation of Israel’s autonomy project, recently submitted its report to the Ministers. On 9 February, and over the next few days, a number of revelations concerning this report are leaked to Israeli radio, and subsequently to the press, by an official on the committee.1 3

Entitled '“Self-government for the Arabs of Judea, Samaria14 and the Gaza Strip,” the report is in fact a compilation of recommendations. Basing itself on the principle that administrative autonomy applies to the inhabitants and not to the land, it recommends that “the army remain the sole legitimate source of authority.”15

The report proposes the creation of ten departments for the autonomous administration (e.g. department of the interior, cultural affairs, etc.). However, it categorically rejects endowing the authority with “any powers that might ultimately lead to the creation of a Palestinian entity or Palestinian state” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The autonomous administration will be empowered to : a) register the population, under the supervision of the Israeli Interior

Ministry, but it will not be authorised to issue passports; b) impose direct taxes, but it will not be able to issue its own currency or

collect customs duties; c) have its own police force, but the Israeli army will continue to be the sole

force responsible for internal security; d) take care of socio-cultural problems and the education of the inhabitants,

but the censorship presently imposed by the military occupation authorities will continue in force. The autonomous authority will not have control over “state lands”. The

latter, estimated by a topographical survey16 at being 700,000 dunams, “would continue to be administered by the Israeli government. This effective seizure is seen as being necessary for the establishment of settlements. In this context the report advances a “second basic principle,” namely that

near the village of al-Taibeh, northeast of Ramallah; Kokhav Hashahar was established in 1975 northeast of Ramallah; Beit El was established in 1977 to the north of al-Bireh. 13. Jerusalem Post, 11/2/79, p. 1 ; and Le Monde, 13/2/79, p. 5. 14. The Israelis denote by “Samaria” the northern sector of the West Bank, with “Judea” denoting the southern sector. 15. New York Times, 10/2/79, p. 4 ,Le Monde of op. cit. and Ma‘ariv, 11/2/79, p. 1. 16. The topographical survey of the West Bank was undertaken in January by officials of the Agriculture Ministry and the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency, with the assistance of the Vice-Procurator General, Leah Peak. The aim of the survey was to establish which lands were not recorded in the Register, thus labelled “unspecified,” and which were the “state lands,” for the sake of planned or existing settlements (Ma‘ariv, 31/1/79, p. 6 and 25/2/79, p. 4). The figures tabled by the Ben Elissar report, concerning these two “categories” of land, seem only to be based on preliminary findings. However, according to Ma‘ariv, the topographical survey was on the point of completion as of 25 February. The press subsequently announced that the government had decided to group under the category of “state-owned” land : 1 - Land not owned by individuals - in other words “public land” — and land belonging to an organisation or private institution. 2 — Land duly registered as private property, but which has not been worked for ten years or more. 3 — Private land which has not been cultivated since 1967. This will be determined on the basis of aerial photographs taken before June 1967. (Al-Ittihad, 19/10/79, p. 1.)

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settlement should continue “without there being any possibility of legal intervention” by the autonomous administration. The report envisages the expropriation of a further 500,000 dunams of land “which are the object of a legal dispute between the Israeli government and the Arab proprietors.”17 This involves land which does not appear in the Land Register, which naturally precludes the possibility of the proprietors showing deeds of ownership. The Israeli government has made this a pretext for considering these lands as “unspecified” or “not belonging to anyone.” Its efforts to appropriate these lands remain unstinting.

The autonomous authority will have no power to control or decide on water resources in the West Bank. A mixed commission on water affairs is envisaged, but the delegates of the Israeli government in this commission will be the only ones empowered to “decide on the distribution of resources and on the drilling of wells for water exploration.”18

18 February — Two days after the US Defence Secretary Harold Brown’s visit to Israel,19 and on the eve of Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s departure to the US in order to participate in the second Camp David summit, the Israeli government takes a number of decisions with serious implications for the future of the occupied territories.

On the initiative of Dayan, making a point of reminding the Americans and Egyptians that Israel is determined to keep hold of the West Bank, the government approves a plan to “survey and organise” the water resources of the West Bank. The government also decides to construct a pipeline to pump water directly from the Sea of Galilee to the settlements in the Jordan Valley.20 It is further decided that the settlements established in the other parts of the West Bank will henceforth draw water from local wells, and no longer from the al-Shafileh wells (the area between the coastal plain and Mt. Hebron).2 1

20 February — The Ministerial Settlement Committee22 decides to accelerate the process of linking the West Bank settlements to the Israeli electricity system. At present, the lines of the Israel Electric Corporation reach as far as Anabta in the Tulkarm region. The immediate objective is to extend them as far as the settlement of Karnei Shomron. The settlement established in the regions of Ramallah and Bethlehem would also be connected to the Israeli company.2 3

27 February - Official sources inform the Jerusalem Post that “the Settlement Department of the World Zionist Organisation has decided to allocate one billion Israeli pounds for the strengthening of existing

17. Ma'ariv, 11/2/79, p. 1. 18. Idem, dead Davar, 11/2/79, p. 1. 19. The visit lasted from 13 to 16 February. 2d. International Herald Tribune, 19/2/79, p. 2. 21. Davar, 19/2/79, p. 1. 22. This in fact consists of a joint government World Zionist Organization Committee under the chairmanship of Sharom 23. Davar, 21/2/79, p. 3.

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settlements” in the occupied territories during the 1979-80 financial year. “The Finance Ministry will provide IL 850 million during this year. Supplementary financing will be made available to the WZO every time the government decides to establish new settlements.”24 Half of the budget provided by the government to the WZO will be earmarked for 45 West Bank settlements, 7 of them Nahal2 5 outposts. 15% of the budget will go to five settlements in the Gaza Strip, one of which a. Nahal, and 10% will go to 33 settlements on the Golan Heights, 3 of them Nahal.2 6

However, the WZO’s complete budget for settlement is in fact IL2.5 billion because the Jewish Agency makes up another IL 1.5 billion over what is allocated by the government.2 7 Subsequently an additional budget of IL 200 million is ratified for settlement,2 8 bringing the total settlement budget for the 1979-80 fiscal year to IL 2.7 billion.

10-13 March — During Carter’s visit to Israel, the Israeli leaders make a point of reaffinning certain basic principles regarding their policy toward the occupied territories.

— Jerusalem will remain the “eternal and indivisible capital of Israel” insists Begin in his speech at a dinner given by Israeli President Yitzhak Navon on 11 March, in honour of the US President.29

— Rejection of all demands for setting a deadline for the application of autonomy. The cabinet, meeting on 11-12 March, approves this stand in a decision adopted by a majority vote.3 0

— Settlement activities are to continue. During a meeting of the US President with the Israeli cabinet on 12 March, Sharon declares : “...There might be two million” settlers in the West Bank. “One thing must be clear to you; we intend to settle many Jews” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.3 1

18 March — During a meeting with the Mifdal Begin “promises” that under the autonomous administration the settlements would be placed under Israeli law and the army would be maintained in the West Bank. Moreover, he gives assurances that settlement work would be speeded up immediately after the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.32

20 March - In his opening speech in the Knesset, meeting to ratify the draft of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Begin reaffirms some of the principles of Israeli policy: Refusal to withdraw from the territories occupied in 1967 ;

24. Jerusalem Post, 27/2/79, p. 2. 25. TheNahal (an acronym for No’ar Halutzi Lohem or Pioneer Combat Youth) is a special unit of the Israeli army and is responsible for the establishment of agricultural settlements which are labelled “outposts”. However, “in practice the Nahal outposts are only the first step in the establishment of permanent (civilian) settlements.” (Statement by Sharon published by Ha’aretz, 16/2/79, p. 2). 26. Davar, 27/2/79, p. 3 ;Ma‘ariv, 5/3/79, p. 17. 27. Yediot Aharanot, 20/5/79, p. 5 \Ha‘aretz, 26/7/79, p. 1. 28. Davar, 20/12/79, p. 1. 29. Ma'ariv, 12/3/79, p. 3. 30. Yediot Aharonot, 12/3/79, p. 1. 31. Jerusalem Post, 15/3/79, p. 3. 32. Jerusalem Post, 20/3/79. p. 1.

15

unified Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and will never be divided again; a Palestinian state will never be established in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.33

Begin adds that the Israeli plan for administrative autonomy is a “tremendous Jewish and Zionist idea” which the Israelis want “to see realised. There exists a fine distinction,” he continues, “between according complete autonomy to the territories and according it to the inhabitants.” (By not accepting the latter, Israel is letting it be clearly understood that she will not give up her claims to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.)

Begin then confirms that Israel’s settlement policy will continue to be implemented under autonomy : “...The Jewish people have the absolute right to settle in Eretz Yisrael [Biblical Palestine]. This right will be safeguarded in the future as it has been in the past...”34

23 March — Speaking on Israeli television, Sharon states that the safeguarding of “Israel’s vital interests” lies in the repression of the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He says: “The right to freedom of political expression under autonomy would constitute a grave danger to Israel.”3 5

26 March — Speaking at the ceremony for the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in Washington, Begin insists on the irrevocable nature of the “unification of Jerusalem.”36

27 March — A booklet entitled “Master plan for the Development of Settlement in Judea and Samaria, 1979-1983” is published by Matityahu Drobless, co-Chairman of the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency — World Zionist Organization.3 7

The introduction contains general principles for settlement strategy during “the period of the autonomous administration,” including the following cardinal principles: 1. “The distribution of the proposed settlements is aimed at creating blocs of

settlements in homogeneous regions; this should allow the settlements of each bloc to develop common services and means of production.

2. “The settlements will be established not only around the population centres of the minorities, but also in the midst of of these centres, in accordance with the settlement policy adopted in Galilee and other parts of the country. The plan envisages the establishment of 46 new settlements to

accommodate 16,000 families and involving an investment of IL 32 billion. In addition, existing settlements are to be reinforced to the tune of 11,000 families, involving an outlay of IL 22 billion.

33. International Herald Tribune, 21/3/79, p. 1 ;Le Monde 22/3/79, p. 7. 34. Yediot Aharanot, 21/3/79, p. 10. 35. Jerusalem Post, 25/3/79, p. 2. 36. Davar, 27/3/79, pp. 1 and 2. 37. Cf. Documents B, p. 148. The chairmanship of the Jewish Agency-World Zionist Organisation Settlement Department is shared by the Likud representative, Drobless, and the Ma’arakh representative, Ra’anan Weitz.

16

The blocs (21 in all) are to be distributed in the regions of Jenin (2), Tulkarm (3), Nablus (5), Ramallah (4), Jerusalem (2), the Jordan Valley (1), Hebron (3), and Bethlehem (1). a) Jenin region : — Gush Rihan (northwest of Jenin); this bloc will comprise

5 settlements — 2 already established (Mei ’Ami and Rihan), and 3 to be built (Rihan B, Mei ’Ami B, and Barkai B). — Gush Dotan (southwest of Jenin); this will be made up of one major settlement to be established at the Mirka junction, overlooking the Dotan Valley.

b) Tulkarm region: — Gush Ma’arav (northwest of Tulkarm); a belt of 4 new agricultural settlements will be established along the ‘Green Line’ and reaching as far as Tulkarm. — Gush Sal’it (southeast of Tulkarm); this will be made up of the existing settlements of Sal’it and Tsur Natan which will be reinforced by the addition of new families. — Gush Karnei Shomron (southeast of Tulkarm); this will consist of 6 communal settlements, two of which (El-Kana and Karnei Shomron) already exist.

c) Nablus region: — Gush Shomron (northwest of Nablus); this bloc will be made up of 4 settlements, two to be built (Ma’aleh Nahal and Ma’aleh Nahal B), and two already established (Sanur and Shomron). — Gush Kadumim (west of Nablus); a group of 4 settlements one existing (Kaddum), and 3 new ones (Kaddum B, C and D). — Gush Ariel (southwest of Nablus); the town of Ariel (Hares) should have 1,500 families by 1983. One new communal settlement (Ariel B) is to be established to the west of Ariel in the region of Khirbet Ashlal. — Elon Moreh region (southeast of Nablus); the settlement of Elon Moreh is to have 400 families by 1983. — Tirza region (northeast of Nablus); the communal settlement of Tirza is to be established on Jebel Thay’ur.3 8

d) Ramallah region: — Gush Shilo (northeast of Ramallah); the following three settlements are to be established: Shilo B, C and D. The bloc will be completed by the existing settlements of Shilo and Tapuah. — Gush Beit El (north of Ramallah); one new settlement will be established — Kokhav Hashahar B, to the east of Kokhav Hashahar A. The latter settlement will be reinforced, as will the settlements of ‘Ofra, Beit El and Rimonim. — Gush Neveh Tsuf (northwest of Ramallah); this bloc will be made up of the. existing settlement of Neveh Tsuf A, and the projected settlements of Neveh Tsuf B, C and D. — Gush Modi’in (west of Ramallah); this bloc will consist of 6 settlements, on both sides of the “Green Line.” Of the three actually inside the occupied West Bank, one (Mevo Horon) already exists, and two

38. Drobless later declares that blocs of settlements are to be established in these two regions: — Gush Elon Moreh, made up of three settlements near Elon Moreh; Gush Tirza, made up of Tirza itself, 7 km. northeast of Nablus and three others to the west of Tirza. (Ha’artez, 26/7/79, p. 1; Yediot Aharanot, 19/8/79, p. 5.)

17

(Matityahu A and B) are planned to be established. e) Jerusalem region : — Gush Giv’on (northwest of Jerusalem) ; this bloc

will be made up of the settlements of Beit Horon and Giv’on, with two more to be established (strictly speaking, Beit Horon is in the Ramallah area). — Gush Adumim (east of Jerusalem); this bloc will consist of 5 settlements, 3 of them to be established.

f) Bethlehem region : — Gush Etzion ; this bloc presently consists of six settlements. Five more are planned, including the town of Efrat.

g) Hebron region : — Gush Tarkumyah ; a major communal settlement to be established to the northwest of Hebron. — Gush Amos; to be formed by the settlement which is to be established to the northeast. —Gush Yatir; this bloc, to the south of Hebron, will consist of 8 settlements straddling the “Green Line.”

h) Jordan-Valley region: — Gush Efraim ; this bloc will comprise three settlements, two of which (Gitit and Mevo Shilo) have already been established.3 9 Drobless has on numerous occasions explained the political reasons for his

regarding as a priority the colonisation of the densely populated regions of the West Bank.

In a statement to the press entitled “Settlement Strategy in Judea and Samaria” which Drobless publishes on 25 July, he says: “We must prove, above all by actions, and from this moment on, that administrative autonomy will only apply to the inhabitants, not in any way to the territories. To this end we must above all create faits accomplis in the region. The state lands and the uncultivated lands of (the West Bank) should be seized in order to colonise the regions between and around Arab urban centres. This will eliminate any risk of an Arab state being set up in this region. It is clear that it will be difficult for the Arab inhabitants to unite and create a continuous territorial and political entity if they are cut off from one another by Jewish settlements. We must not leave any room for doubt as to our determination to keep hold of (the West Bank) forever.”40

Neither the press nor Drobless himself have given a precise breakdown of the various phases of this five-year settlement plan. The fact that several of the settlements proposed have actually been established — as we shall see in section B — in different parts of the West Bank seems to indicate that the method adopted is to establish simultaneously, at least one new settlement in each bloc. Still, on the regional level priority has been given to Nablus.

Drobless has affirmed this on numerous occasions, for example in the course of a tour of the West Bank settlements. On 25 July, he declares : “Our response to the Security Council, which has just adopted a resolution on the Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, 41 should be, without

39. Al-Hamishmar, 27/3/79, p. 4. 40. Ha’aretz, 29/7/79, p. 9.

41. On 20 July the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in which it “Calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.” (UN Document S/RES/452 (1979).)

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hesitation, to act as follows : We should immediately establish ten settlements... with the objective of encircling Nablus with a belt of settlements.”42 Drobless adds that, the establishment of these four blocs which are to “encircle Nablus at a radius of 10 km. will require the seizure of private land.”43

29 March — The settlers of the occupied territories hold a veritable “council of war.” They adopt a series of resolutions, including one calling for the recruitment of personnel to constitute armed groups. These will be charged “with repressing by all means at their disposal” any movement of national protest in the occupied territories (meetings, demonstrations etc...) “in the eventuality that the army should fail to intervene.” The settlers also decree that “the personal use of a weapon is a legitimate act of self-defence.”44

9 April — Arieh Dulzin, Executive Secretary of the Jewish Agency, declares at a press conference that the Jewish Agency will shortly work on the implementation of “Project Pithat Shalom” in the Negev. $200 million will be invested in the project.45

On 12 June, he reveals that sites for the 20 new settlements envisaged in the project have been selected and that the settlements will total, 1,200 “economic units.” When the settlers of Yamit are evacuated according to the terms of the peace treaty with Egypt, they will be rehoused in 11 of the new settlements in Negev. The operation will take three years.46

19 April — Sharon asserts that economic reasons are among those factors dictating the government’s unanimous position with regard to the Golan. Addressing the settlers of Katzrin, he declares that Israel has no intention of leaving the Golan “because one third of her water resources come from this territory.”47

3 May — Begin submits his programme for administrative autonomy to the eleven-minister autonomy committee. On 17 May, the committee approves it, and on 21 May, the government ratifies it.

The programme ratified by the government consists of an elaboration of principles consecrating Israel’s annexationist and expansionist policies. It affirms that “after the five-year transitional period of administrative autonomy Israel will assert its claim to sovereignty” over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. From this one basic principle all the other principles and claims follow. The programme states, among other things, that: “The Jewish settlements and their Jewish inhabitants will be answerable to Israeli law and the Israeli administration; the right to establish settlements in areas placed under the autonomous administration will be safeguarded; state land and

42. Ha’aretz, 26/7/79, p. 1. 43. Idem, Jerusalem Post, 26/7/79, p. 2. 44. Al-Hamishmar, 1/4/79, p. 8. 45. Al-Hamishmar, 10/4/79, p. 2. 46. Ha’aretz, 13/6/79, p. 2. 47. Al-Hamishmar, 20/4/79, p. 2.

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uncultivated land4 7 awill be at the disposal of Israel; Israel will be responsible for the allotment of water resources, consulting the administrative council as it sees fit ; the Israeli armed forces will be deployed in specified locations in the areas placed under the autonomous administration; the Israeli security forces wil be responsible for internal security...”

As far as the administrative council is concerned, the government programme stipulates that: “The military government will delegate its powers to the autonomous authority.” An annex to the programme reiterates that “Israel will never allow the creation of a Palestinian state” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.4 8

The government decides unanimously that this “Programme of Princi¬ ples for the Complete Administrative Autonomy of the Arab Inhabitants of Judea and Samaria and for the Presence of Jewish Settlers in these Areas” will serve as the Israeli delegation’s negotiating platform in the talks on autonomy. For tactical reasons it will not actually be submitted in full to the Egyptians during the negotations.49

The recommendations made by the Elissar Committee for the application of the “Programme of Principles” are revealed by Ha’aretz on 1 May. These recommendations complete those submitted in the Committee’s report on 9 February, and they show that further restrictions are to be imposed on the autonomous authority.

These restrictions start with the electoral procedure for the elections of the administrative council. “Any person sentenced for opposing the occupa¬ tion” will be considered ineligible: “The candidates must present thet themselbves on an individual list without letting it be known for what electoral ward they are standing.” On the economic level: “The autonomous administration will not be authorised to issue currency, to establish a central bank or to impose indirect taxes. It will not be allowed to control imports or exports, nor will it be able to regulate the money supply.” On the level of internal security: “...Political prisoners will be detained in prisons governed by Israeli legislation; the Israeli government will be empowered to veto any amnesty...”

The seizure of land will be intensified: “727,000 dunams” will be “closed off’ under the pretext of providing land for military manoeuvres and army camps. This figure does not include the land necessary for the construction of roads: “More than ten highways” will be built in the West Bank and one more in the Gaza Strip. The “control of the transport and communications

47a. “The programme’s proposals regarding West Bank land are as follows: — Government-owned lands, which are uncultivated, will be used, as required, for security needs, for

Jewish settlement and for refugee rehabilitation. - Land which is not legally registered in private ownership, but is nevertheless privately cultivated, will be used, as required, for security needs only. - Similarly, land which is legally registered in private ownership but is not cultivated will be used for security if required. In this case, it will be requisitioned, not confiscated. (The difference is that in requisition, possession is taken by the government but ownership remains vested in the individual.) — Privately owned and cultivated land will not be used, unless unavoidably required for security or road-building purposes.” {Jerusalem Post, 18/5/79, p. 1.) 48. Ha’aretz, 22/5/79, p. 1. 49. Ma’ariv, 22/5/79, p. 4.

20

systems of the territories will be the responsibility of the Israeli Minister of Transport.” Furthermore, “Israel will supply the Gaza Strip with water resources from the West Bank.”

One final important recommendation of the Elissar Committee: “The settlers will be able to form a local police force and carry arms wherever they go.”5 0

18 May — Matityahu Drobless affirms that, if at the present stage the West Bank must be the principal focus of settlement policy, this by no means signifies that the other occupied territories have been “forgotten”. Plans have been drawn up for both the Gaza Strip and the Golan. In addition to the settlements to be established in the Gaza Strip in 1979, Drobless advocates the establishment of 15 more settlements in the region over the next five years.51 He also recalls the decision taken to establish five new settlements in the Golan,5 2 and calls for the establishment of ten more over the next five years.5 3

19 May — High-placed official Israeli sources let it be known that by the end of 1980 the Israeli government proposes to complete the construction of: a) — 27 new settlements in the West Bank, seven of them in the Jordan Valley (notably Ro’i, Rimonim, Kokhav Hashahar, Almog B, Mehola B and Nu’eima) and the rest elsewhere (among them, Mi’ami C, Berka’i, Tepuah, Halamish, Shevi-Shomron, Karnei Shorn ron B, Neveh TsufB, Ma’aleh Adumin B, Yatir, Shekef, Mitspeh Yarihu, Beit Horon and Sanur). b) — Three new settlements on the Golan Heights.54

25-27 May — At the inaugural session of the first round of the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations on autonomy, held in Bir al Sabe’, the head of the Israeli delegation, Yosef Burg, makes it clear that Israel’s conception of autonomy “does not and cannot imply sovereignty.”5 5 On 27 May, Begin reaffirms that the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza have been offered no more than “an administrative council whose authority will be limited to the running of day-to-day affairs.”5 6

30 May — Speaking before the Knesset, Sharon calls for intensified settlement in the West Bank and Gaza over the next twenty to thirty years, adding that preparations are already underway to guarantee the provision of water to the future settlements.5 7

3 June — Begin declares, at the opening in Jerusalem of the 14th Convention

50. Ha’aretz, 21/5/79, p. 1. 51. Jerusalem Post, 20/5/79, p. 2. 52. Ha’aretz, 20/5/79, p. 2; these five planned settlements are: Shekh (in the north); Ayshiyet (centre); Dabousiyeh (south); Tel Abu Katif and one more nearBirket Ram (.Ha’aretz, 10/7/79, p. 3) 53. Yediot Aharonot, 20/5/79, p. 5.

54. Ha’aretz, 20/5/79, p. 2. 55. International Herald Tribune, 26-27/5/79, p. 1. 56. Ha’aretz, 28/5/79, p. 3. 57. International Herald Tribune, 31/5/79, p. 2.

21

of his party, Herut, that “ever since the concept of law took root in the human race, there was no more legal an act than Jewish settlement, in all parts of Eretz Yisrael... As for Jerusalem, unified and indivisible, it will remain the capital of Israel for all eternity.” Describing the administrative autonomy plan as a “humane and progressive” idea which he is proud to be associated with, the former Irgun chief reiterates his conviction that “there will never be a Palestinian state.”5 8

5 June — Weizman, addressing the Herut Convention, says that to constantly affirm that colonisation is necessary to Israel’s security is to obscure the fact that the impetus toward colonisation has always been a fundamental part of the Zionist idea. “We cannot go on indefinitely saying, and trying to prove, that the establishment of such and such a settlement in such and such a place is justified by its vital importance on the level of security, and only security; to go on like that would be subversive to the nature of Zionism.” Weizman adds that “the Defence Ministry has drawn up a plan envisaging the establishment of six urban centres” in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan. The elaboration of this plan was based on “Zionist precepts,” Weizman says. y

6 June — In his concluding address to the Convention,60 Begin stresses that one of the prime functions of the Israeli army after the installation of the autonomous administration will be to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. “If the members of the executive council which emerges from the elections take it into ther heads to proclaim Palestinian independence they will be arrested by the Israeli army, which will restore the military government in the territories within the hour.”6 1 Begin affirms that President Carter has been fully informed as to this position of the Israeli government.62

6 June — Moshe Morhavia, the Executive Secretary of the Gush Emunim6 3,

58. Ha’aretz, Yediot Aharanot andMa’ariv, 4/6/79, pp. 1, 3 and 3. 59. Ma’ariv, 6/6/79, p. 4. 60. The Convention re-elects Begin party chairman of Herut for the third consecutive time (1,349 votes for, 9 against). Its resolutions adopted on 7 June merit attention inasmuch as they constitute the policy guidelines of the principal party of the coalition in power. Moreover, almost all of the resolutions are concerned with the future of the occupied territories. With regard to the Golan, the Herut will strive, “in the eventuality of negotiations with Syria, to maintain the Golan Heights under Israeli control.” The resolutions, concerning Jerusalem and a Palestinian state reaffirm the known position of the Israeli government. (Ma’ariv, 7/6/79, p. 1.). 61. LeMonde, 9/6/79, p. 6. 62. Ma’ariv, 7/6/79, p. 3. 63. The Gush Emunim is only one of many settlement movements and organisations. However, its hallmark is that it favours above all the establishment of settlements in areas with a dense Palestinian population (such as the regions of Nablus and Ramallah). For their part, the “traditional settlement movements,” such as those affiliated to the Ma’arakh (Labour Alignment) - among them the Unified Kibbutz Movement, the Kibbutzim Movement, the Union of Agricultural Villages - have concentrated on gaining as much control as possible over the Jordan Valley region and the Golan Heights.

The strides made by the Gush Emunim since the Likud’s rise to power can be explained by the fact that it has had government support, which has accorded it enormous grants. According to Le Monde Diplomatique (December 1979, p. 7), “The members of Gush Emunim have at their disposal IL 5 billion, or 1% of the state’s budget. They also receive financial contributions from individuals in Israel and abroad, and they have arms and communications networks.”

22

announces that his movement regards as a priority the expropriation of private land for the expansion of existing settlements and the establishment of new ones. “It is only necessary to consult a map,” he says, “to see that it is impossible to create even the smallest settlements without recourse to the expropriation of land...” Uri Ariel, the movement’s director of settlement affairs, says that the most basic rule of colonisation is that “a settlement which... does not occupy more than 200-300 dunums is doomed to strangulation and will inevitably be wiped off the map.”64

The Gush Emunim, who on 6 June publicise their demands in a list submitted to the press and in a subsequent study in August concerning the “functional problems of the settlements,” calls for the immediate expropriation of 40,530 dunums.65 No region of the West Bank is spared. The area of the land to be expropriated, by region, is as follows:

Tulkarm region : 1390 dunums for the settlement of el-Kana Nablus region: 12,504 dunums for the settlements of Shevi Shomron

(1,460 dunums), Kadumim (1,290 dunums), Ariel/Hares’(7,500 dunums), Elon Moreh (800 dunums), Dotan/Sanur (1,454 dunums).

Ramallah region : 7,330 dunums for the settlements of Neveh Tsuf (600 dunums), Shilo (1,460 dunums), ’Ofra (1,230 dunums), Beit El (1,275 dunums), Beit Horon (1,425 dunums), Tepuah (1,340 dunums).

Jerusalem region : 9,910 dunums for the settlement of Giv’on. Jericho region : 500 dunums for the settlement of Mitspeh Yarihou. Bethlehem region : 530 dunums for the settlement of Tekoa. The

expansion of the town of Efrat and the settlement of Mighdal ’Oz is also planned.

Hebron region : 4,550 dunums for the settlement of Kiryat Arba’. The Gush Emunim proposes to create important centres in the regions of

Nablus, Jerusalem and Hebron with the settlements of Ariel (10,000 dunums), Giv’on (10,000 dunums), and Kiryat Arba’ (5,000 dunums). respectively.6 6

In a letter to Drobless on 25 July, the Gush Emunim speaks of the “need to seize absentee Arab land,6 7 as well as the land of Arabs presently living” in the occupied territories. They argue that their settlements are “hemmed in” because of the procedure usually followed by the government when it comes to establish settlements. According to the Gush, “expropriating private land under the pretext of establishing military camps, eventually to be evacuated to make way for civilian settlers, is a procedure which is incompatible with the exigencies of the right of Jews to settle” in the West Bank. “Making do with an area designated for a military camp means being impossibly cramped.”68

64. Ma’ariv, op. cit. 65. 1 dunum =0.25 acre. 66. Ma’ariv, op. cit. : Ha’aretz, 7/8/79, p. 4. 67. The Gush Emunim is referring here to land considered by the occupation authorities as being “absentee property.” Military Decree No. 58, issued on 23 July 1967, stipulates that all property “the owner or legitimate acquirer thereof left in the region on 7 June 1967, or before or after this date, is considered to be absentee property.” This decree confers on the “Custodian of Absentee Property” the right to seize all land so classified. 68. Ha’aretz, 29/7/79, p. 9.

23

Drobless sends a letter to Sharon demanding that “uncultivated Arab land” be immediately seized in the West Bank, because “many settlements which have been established cannot develop if new land is not assigned to them.”69

20 June - In response to the declaration of the EEC on 18 June affirming that settlement activities constitute an obstacle to peace, Dayan issued a statement in which he says that “settlements are in accord with international law” and that “there is no rule banning Jews from living in” the occupied territories.70

2 July - Begin reaffirms to US special envoy Robert Strauss that the Israeli position in the autonomy negotiations is based on the following three prin¬ ciples: 1 — No Palestinian state; 2 — Jerusalem, which has always been, and will continue to be the capital of Israel, will not figure on the agenda of the autonomy negotiations.7 1

4 July — Up to this date, 60 members of the Knesset have signed a petition demanding the imposition of Israel sovereignty on the Golan Heights, this territory being considered “as an integral part of Israel.”72

11 July — During his two-day visit to Egypt (10-12 July), Begin claims that the expropriation of land in the territories was perfectly justified, since, according to him, “only uncultivated land” was seized. “The land we have taken has not been tilled for a million years, therefore we are not doing anything wrong at all.”73

22 July - The Israeli cabinet approves a bill entitled “The Negev Land Acquisition Law (Peace Treaty with Egypt) 1979.” This bill, drawn up by a committee chaired by Begin, comes up for its first reading in the Knesset on 31 July, and passes by 46 votes to 44.7 4

The bill involves the expropriation of 157,000 dunums of land belonging to the (sedentary) Bedouin of the Negev for the construction of two out of three military airfields to be built in the region following the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai.75 About 10,000 people live on the threatened land, which has been cultivated for generations by the Bedouin tribes of the

69. Jerusalem Post, 22/8/79, pp. 1 and 2. 70. The Guardian 21/6/79, p. 6. 71. Yediot Aharonot, 3/7/79, p. 1. 72. Ha'aretz, 4/7/79, p. 3 ; and al-Ittihad, 6/7/79, p. 8. 73. The Guardian, 12fl 119, p. 4. 74. Jerusalem Post, 23/7/79, p. 1 ; and 1/8/79, p. 1. 75. The expropriation of land at Tel-al-Maleha, to the south of Bir al Sabe’, for the construction of the third airfield, is not covered by the bill. As we shall see in Section B, p. 31, these expropriations go ahead at the beginning of the year. The extent of the redeployment of the Israeli army in the Negev can be gathered from a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Yigael Yadin in April when he said that the area of each of the airfields to be constructed in the Negev would be in the region of 50,000 dunums. Yadin added that 600 km. of road would be constructed.(Ma’ariv 9/4/79, p. 3.) The financing of two of the airfields will be covered by supplementary aid packages which the USA engaged to provide in the course of a visit to Washington by Weizman between 15 and 19 March. 800

24

Negev.76 The deprived landowners — about 40,000 in all, — will have no possibility of appealing in the Courts against the expropriation itself, but only against the terms of the compensation offered them.77 The compensation bears on landed and immoveable property. a) The owner of land will receive :

IL 800-1,200 for every dunum of level land; IL 400-600 for every dunum of rocky land; One dunum of virgin land for 150 dunums of land.

b) The peasant farmer will receive : Two dunums for a cultivated plot of 150 dunums; Three dunums for a cultivated plot of 250 dunums; Four dunums for a plot of 350 dunums or more.

c) Derisory compensations are offered for dwellings, wells and dams. The bill also stipulates that “the police are authorized to use force

wherever necessary in order to seize land and expel its inhabitants ; the police are also authorized to call on other regular forces for assistance on the orders of the Minister of Defense.”78

Finance Minister Simha Erlich declares that half of the area to be expropriated (157,000 dunums) will be used for the construction of the military airfields, the other half being devoted to “Bedouin resettlement.”79

26 July — Sharon, in the course of a tour round the settlements on the Negev, announces that a number of settlements will be established between Mt. Hebron and the Negev in order to ensure “continuity” between ’Arad on the one hand, and Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba’ on the other. This “continuity of Jewish settlement” would isolate the Palestinians of the Negev from those of the Hebron region. The construction of a number of “settlement outposts” in the Negev is envisaged as part of this scheme.80

27 July — Education Minister Zevulum Hammer declares before the Settlements Council of the Golan that this territory “is an integral part of Israel.”81

9 August — Shimon Rabid, Director General of the Jewish Agency Settlement Department, reveals that eight new settlements will be established in the Golan over the next three years at a cost of IL 8 billion.82

12 August — Begin declares before the Cabinet : “The complete autonomy

million dollars of this 3 billion dollar package will be in the nature of a gift, with 2.2 billion as a loan repayable in 30 years with 9% interest. (Ha’aretz, 20/3/79, p. 1, and 1/4/79, and Davar, 27/4/79, p. 1.) The third airfield will be financed out of funds from Israel’s own budget. (Ha’aretz, 13/4/79, p.

76. According to the daily Ma’ariv (3/8/79, p. 14), “1,000 families aie threatened with expulsion.” 11. Ha’aretz, 23/7/79, p. 4 and 1/8/79, p. 3 ; Le Monde Diplomatique, December 1979, p. 7 ; and al-lttihad, 7/9/79, p. 2. 78. Al-lttihad, 20/7/79, p. 8 and op. cit. 79. Jerusalem Post, 1/8/79, pp. 1 and 2. 80. Ma’ariv, 27/7/79, p. 5. 81 .Davar, 29/7/79, p. 2. 82. Jerusalem Post, 10/8/79, p. 1

25

which Israel has proposed to institute in Judea and Samaria and Gaza is contained in the 26-point programme drawn up by the government. Israel has never tried to conceal the true nature of the autonomous authority which it intends to instal... Israel envisages the establishment of an administrative council, thereby granting autonomy to the people of these territories.”8 3

22 August — Weizman promises the settlers of the Jordan Valley to follow up their request that more land be closed off in the region so as to enable them to have at their diposal 10,000 dunums of fertile land alongside the Jordan River and utilise the river’s water for irrigation.84 Sharon and Zippori have already accepted this request.8 5

16 September — The government votes unanimously in favour of a “decision of principle” to lift the ban on Israelis (individuals and organisations alike) purchasing land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.8 6

Commenting on the government decision, Gush Emunim settlers maintain that the seizure of land remains “by far the surest means” of expanding the Jewish presence in the occupied territories.8 7

20 September — Describing, in an interview accorded to the Jerusalem Post, the approach he has to his work, the Military Commander of the West Bank, Brig. Gen. Benyamin Ben-Eliezer, gives an apology for the policy of “collective punishment.” He affirms that as his primary objective is to “maintain security” in the region he has no other choice, once a certain limit has been passed, but to resort to this measure of collective repression.

In fact no such “limit” really exists, as Ben-Eliezer in effect pronounces himself against the freedom of expression of the population of the occupied territories : “I am against all political activity that wants to say 4no' to the peace process and cno’ to autonomy.”88

14 October — The Cabinet decides unanimously to expropriate nearly 4,000 dunums of land to expand six settlements in the West Bank and to establish one new settlement. The lands to be expropriated are either “state-owned” or “unregistered” the latter case signifying land which has been cultivated by the local inhabitants for generations, but without there being any official record of ownership in the Land Register. For this reason, the people to whom the land in fact belongs cannot produce any legal title to their land.

The government’s by now familar attitude toward these two categories of land allows Cabinet Secretary Arieh Naor to claim at the end of the meeting that “no private or cultivated land will be requisitioned or expropriated for

83. Yediot Aharonot, 13/8/79, p. 4. 84. Ma’ariv, 22/8/79, p. 6. 85. Ibid.

Ha’aretz, 17/9/79, p. 1 \ Jerusalem Post, 19/9/79, pp. 1 and 2 \ Le Monde, 18/9/79, p. 1. 87. Le Monde, 18/9/79, p. 6. 88. Jerusalem Post, 20/9/79, p. 5.

26

the implementation of this decision.” However, reports in the press and on Israeli television indicate that the land earmarked for the expansion of the settlements is mostly cultivated land which has not been registered, or else “state-owned” land. 9 With the exception of Efrat, all the settlements slated for expansion are affiliated to the Gush Emunim. The land seizure break down is as follows : a) — In the Nablus region, 1,070 dunums will be expropriated for the

settlements of Ariel (1,000) and Kadumim (70). b) — In the Tulkarm region, 400 dunums will be expropriated for the

settlement of el-Kana. c) — In the Jerusalem region, 650 dunums will be expropriated for the

settlement of Giv’on. d) — In the Bethlehem region, 2,000 dunums will be expropriated for Efrat. e) — In the Ramallah region, 150 dunums will be expropriated for Beit

Horon.9 0 The Cabinet appoints an inter-ministerial committee to study ways of

finding more land for two settlements which are not surrounded by sufficient “state-owned’ land, namely Kadumim (which has already received 70 dunums) and ‘Ofra.9 1 It is finally decided to allocate 80 dunums for one new settlement. According to al-Ittihad this settlement will be named Giv’at Hadashah, while Ha’aretz says that the settlement will be Giv’on B.92

On October 15, the Knesset ratifies the Cabinet’s decision.93 October — In mid-October, sources in the press reveal the existence of a

new settlement plan drawn up by Sharon94 for 1980. A subsequent statement by Cabinet Secretary Arieh Naor confirms the existence of this plan, adding that it envisages the establishment of 16 new settlements.9 5

In fact, Sharon is equally concerned to reinforce existing settlements as he is to create new ones. The new settlements to be established in the West Bank are :96 a) In the Jenin region, Rihan D and E ; b) In the Tulkarm region, Karnei Shomron E and el-Kana B ; c) In the Nablus region, Shomron B and Tepuah B ; d) In the Ramallah region, Neveh Tsuf B ;

89. Jerusalem Post, 15/10/79, p. 1 \Le Monde, 16/10/79, p. 5 ; The Guardian, 15/10/79, p. 6. 90. Jerusalem Post, op. cit. ; al-Ittihad, 16/10/79, p. 1 \Davar, 15/10/79, p. 1. Davar does not specify the additional land proposed for Giv’on merely noting that “state-owned” land and land attached to a military camp will be accorded the settlement. However, the daily cites the same figures for the other expropriations as the Jerusalem Post and al-Ittihad. 91. Jerusalem Post, op. cit: The Guardian, op. cit. Press sources say that Sharon gave instructions following the meeting that infrastructural work be begun on the 4,599 dunums of expropriated land. (Yediot Aharanot, 15/10/79, p. 1.) 92. Ha’aretz, 16/10/79, p. 1. 93. The Guardian, 16/10/79, p. 6. 94. This plan was distributed among the ministers on 14 October at the above-mentioned meeting as a “document for scrutiny”. This was on the instructions of Begin. {Ha’aretz, 15/10/79, p. 2.) A ministerial committee was subsequently instructed to study the plan. {Ha’aretz, 12/11/79, p. 1.) 95. The statement was issued on 11 November following a Cabinet meeting. {International Herald Tribune, 13/11/79, p. 1.) 96. According to the Jerusalem Post (12/11/79, p. 2), Sharon’s plan envisages the “establishment of about 14 settlements” in the West Bank, “three more in the Gaza Strip, and one in the Golan.” However, no details are given about the third Gaza settlement or the one to be established in the Golan.

27

e) In the Jerusalem region, Mighamish9 7 f) In the Jordan Valley, Almog B ; g) In the Hebron region, Tekoa B, Lucifer, Carmel and Neveh Zif.9 8

In addition, one new settlement — Mitspeh Gorfin — is to be established in the West Bank, but its location has not been decided on, and two new settlements — Katif E and F — are to be established in the Gaza Strip.

The settlements to be established will be created in the form of groups, and thus Sharon maintains that “there should be at least 500 to 600 settlers living in each of the settlements of Gush Rihan, and 400 in each of the Gush Shomron settlements. Gush Karnei Shomron is to have a total population of 10 to 12 thousand settlers, Ma’aleh Adumim is slated to become a centre for 20 to 25 thousand settlers, and Gush Ariel is to be the most important centre, with a population of 50,000”99

The implementation of this plan is estimated to cost IL 2.5 billion.1 00

19 October — The Weizman Plan. The daily Haaretz publishes two conse¬ cutive articles101 outlining the settlement plan of the Minister of Defence. “Since the time of Shimon Peres, the Planning Department of the General Staff has been inclined towards a comprehensive settlement plan.” This was subsequently passed on to Weizman. Amendments were introduced, and some of the plan’s aspects were elaborated in greater detail. The Weizman plan was submitted to the government about a year and a half ago. Stressing that “like the other settlement plans [those of the Agriculture Ministry and the Gush Emunim,] the Defence Ministry’s plan aims at ensuring Israeli dominance” over the West Bank, the daily writes : “The objective is the same, only the means differ.” The plan involves “implanting [in the West Bank] the maximum possible numbers of Jews in a limited number of settlements. Thus, instead of having a plethora of mini-settlements which would only cause problems, we could establish urban centres...”

Defence Ministry officials lay down the following guiding principles for their plan : 1 — “To concentrate on a limited number of large urban centres, each one with a population of several thousand settlers, instead of having dozens of little settlements. This would allow those mini-settlements located in the vicinity of an urban centre to have a source of economic support nearby. They could count on the major centre for outlets for work and for necessary services.” 2 — “To try as much as possible to avoid areas with a dense Arab population.” This principle is accompanied by the specification of the following two political objectives : “The need to have a significant and stable (Jewish) presence in the northern region of the West Bank ; and

97. According to al-Ittihad (6/11/79, p. 1), the settlement of Mighamish will be established near Neveh Ya’acov settlement, northeast of Jerusalem. 98. The Jerusalem Post, op. cit. reports that the settlements of Lucifer, Carmel and Zif are to be established in southern Mount Hebron. 99. Ha’aretz, 15/10/79, p. 2. 100. Le Monde, 3/11/79, p. 8 ; Jerusalem Post op. cit. On 31 October, highly placed sources reveal that the Sharon plan presupposes that construction work on eight settlements should be completed by the end of 1979, namely Rihan B, Dotan, Karnei Shomron C and D, Almog D, Mitspeh Yarihou B, Ro’i D, and Katif D. {Ha’aretz, 1/11/79, p. 1.) 101. Ha’aretz, 19/10/79, p. 20, and 21/10/79, p. 9.

28

the need to reinforce the Jerusalem region.” 3 - To give priority to “the expropriation of state-owned land.” The Defence Ministry considers that the area available of land in this category is adequate for the urban centres that it intends to establish. These centres, nine in all, are to be divided between the West Bank (7) and the Gaza Strip (2) a) — In the West Bank, the centres to be established are : In the Jerusalem region :

Etzion. Ma’aleh Adumim, on the Jerusalem-Jericho road, occupying thousands of

dunums of “state-owned land.” Giv’on, southwest of Neveh Ya’acov, on the Shemen-Atarot road. The establishment of these centres will mean that Jerusalem will be

encircled by two belts of settlements : — One “inner” belt made up of Greater Jerusalem, Atarot, Nevh Ya’acov, Giv’on and al-Azariyat ; and one “outer” belt made up of Ma’aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion and Beit Horon. The Northern Sector of the West Bank:

Karnei Shomron, about 20 km. from Kafr Saba. Hares, about 25 km. from Petah Tikwa, near the trans-West Bank Hutseh-

Shomron highway. Nebi Saleh, southwest of Hares. JVIa’on Carmel.

South of Hebron : The Weizman plan envisages the construction of two main roads : The

Chemen-Atarot road passing to the north of Jerusalem ; and the Nativ Halamedteh-Tekoa road. These roads are designed to link the West Bank to the Palestinian territories annexed in 1948. At the same time, the Hutseh-Shomron trans-West Bank highway will be completed. b) — in the Gaza Strip, the Katif centre will be established, with another further north, near Zekem.

11 November — The Cabinet takes a number of decisions of principle with regard to settlement. It decides to expand settlement in the occupied territories “through increasing the population of existing settlements and establishing new settlements on state-owned land.” A ministerial committee is appointed to implement this policy. Cabinet sources reveal that a secret decision has been taken to instruct the Attorney General to “examine the legal aspects of Jewish settlement” in the West Bank in order to prevent “the repetition of the Elon Moreh affair.” The measures envisaged would involve legislation or an ordinance.102

15 November — The Ministerial Committee on Settlement approves the establishment of 19 new settlements in the West Bank, and the transfer of 12 Nahal (military) outposts to civilian settlers. It is also decided to develop five urban centres (Gush Rihan, Gush Karnei, Shomron, Gush Giv’on, Gush Ma’aleh Adumin and Gush Etzion). It is planned to build 12 to 15 thousand housing units in these blocs annually.1 03

102. Jerusalem Post, 12/11/79, p. 1. 103. Ha’aretz, 16/11/79, p. 1 ; Jerusalem Post, 16/11/79, p. 1 \LeMonde, 17/11/79, p. 8.

29

This programme will cost about IL 150 billion, or nearly half of the entire annual state budget approved for this year.10 4 The installation of one family of settlers in the West Bank is estimated to be IL 4 million.1 05

In November 20, th& Knesset ratifies the decision by 66 votes to 40.1 06 In the meantime, the Ministerial Settlement Committee announces that in 1980 it plans to build 6,000 housing units in the West Bank, 3,500 of them in urban settlements and 2,500 in agricultural settlements, at a total cost of nearly IL 18 billion.107

30 November — In an interview accorded to Al-Hamishmar, Drobless describes the major outlines of his plans for settlement in the territories occupied in 1967 and the Galilee.

a) In the West Bank “By the time the proposed five-year transitional period of administrative autonomy comes to an end, between 30 and 40 thousand Jewish families should have been implanted in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank without the Ghor region and Jerusalem).

“This year we intend to construct 5,000 apartments in Judea and. Samaria... We will also put other investments in the settlements, principally in the sphere of light industry...”

Drobless also considers that one of the prime objectives of his department is to reinforce the settlements around Jerusalem and to alter the Arab character of the city. He adds that “The Jewish Agency and the government, who have both taken on the responsibility for renovating the old (Jewish) quarters of the city, are devoting $60 million each to this project...”

He goes on to say that “The governement and the Jewish Agency are planning to reinforce the settlements established in Judea and Samaria. We have paid all our political dues with regard to these settlements. They were established legally, and no one has any right to oppose what is going on there. We further mean to reinforce all the settlements affiliated to the Zio¬ nist Organization in the Jordan Valley and the Golan.

“The government has just decided [11 November] to establish settlements on state-owned land. The settlements which are dispersed or isolated will be reinforced by other settlements to be established nearby, if adequate state land is available. The government’s plan calls for accelerating the process of installing settlers in five centres. It is possible that about 10% of the land is of uncertain ownership, or else land not duly registered in the name of Arab owners... We will expropriate this land if necessary. This is how we are proceeding in Jerusalem, Haifa or Tel Aviv, even if in principle we are building settlements only on state land.”

b) In the Gaza Strip: Drobless announces that the Jewish Agency

104. Jerusalem Post and Le Monde op. cit.; according tc Le Monde, “This plan should satisfy the demands of the National Religious Party (Mifdal) and of Sharon, who both support the Gush Emunim settlers...” The Jerusalem Post describes the decision as a compromise between the respective plans of Weizman and Sharon. 105. The Guardian, 16/11/79, p. 8. 106. Jerusalem Post, 21/11/79, p. 2. 107. Haaretz, 21/11/79, p. 2.

30

Settlement Department plans to build between five and seven new settlements, in addition to the five already established, in the Katif region. It has been decided to transform the Nahal Morag into a civilian settlement. The possibility of creating two more settlements in the north of the Gaza Strip is also considered.

c) In the Golan Heights : Five new settlements will be established in 1980. They will be located in the central sector of the Golan, the southern and northern sectors being over-settled.108 Four of the settlements have been approved by the relevant committees, while a final decision remains to be taken on the fifth settlement. Drobless recognises that “the Jews have by now taken over all the agricultural land in the Golan.” This poses the problem, he affirms, of finding land on which to establish the new settlements.

d) In Galilee: “By March 1980, the construction of 30 “settlement outposts” will have been completed.109 The essential question here is not the number [of Jewish settlers]. The first priority is to safeguard the land of the state and to make sure of our possession of this land, because the Arabs of Galilee are taking over the land and engaging in illegal construction. Nevertheless, by constructing the “settlement outposts” we have taken control of 120,000 dunums of land.11 0 This land will be put at the disposal of the permanent settlements that will be established in Galilee, taking into account the fact that at a later stage all the settlement outposts will be transformed into permanent settlements.111

“When the 30 outposts under construction are completed in March 1980, 30 more outposts will be constructed. By establishing a large number of these outposts we will be able in three to five years to significantly alter the demographic equilibrium in Galilee...”11 2

13 December — During a tour round the West Bank in the company, of several Likud deputies, Sharon declares that “since in reality there is not one settlement (in the West Bank) which is not partly — if not wholly — established on private land,” the government should draw up suitable legislation for the settlements.113 This legislation should permit the expropriation of any Arab land for settlement purposes.114

16 December — The Israeli press reports that the Ministries of Finance and Housing, and the Jewish Agency’s Settlement Department have agreed to jointly finance the implantation of nearly 2,000 families in the West Bank, according to the following order and priority : first the Nablus region, then

108. Cf. note 52, p. 20. 109. The plan to establish 20-30 settlement outposts in Galilee was drawn up a year ago by Ra’anan Weitz. 110. Arieh Dulzin declared on 9 April that 300,000 dunums would be closed off in Galilee in the context of the settlement outposts project. {Al-Hamishmar, 10/4/79, p. 2.) 111. Drobless declared on 9 July that every year between five and eight of these outposts.will be transformed into permanent settlements, (Ha’aretz, 10/7/79, p. 1.). 112. Al-Hamishmar, 30/11/79, p. 4. 113. Yediot Aharonot, 14/12/79, p. 2. 114. Al-Ittihad, 14/12/79, p. 1.

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the Jerusalem region, and finally Gush Etzion, all three regions being under the charge of the Jewish Agency. The only obstacle to this programme is the “lack of available land.”115

24 December — Responding to questions put to him by three Mifdal leaders, Begin affirms that he will speed up the process of mapping the West Bank recently decided on by the government for the purpose of determining the “ownership of every plot of land” in order to facilitate Jewish settlement.116

25 December — The Ministerial Settlement Committee decides to construct 6,200 housing units in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan. According to Drobless, the project will cost nearly IL 30 billion, not IL 15 billion as the estimates of the other members of the committee claim.117 The majority of these new units would be constructed in the West Bank with the aim of bringing to 38,000 the number of settlers there in the course of the next eighten months.118 In fact, the most densely populated areas of the West Bank (Nablus, Ramallah, etc.) will receive 73% of the total, with 11% in the urban centre of Ma’aleh Efraim (in the Jordan Valley), 4% in the Gaza Strip, mostly in the projected urban centre of Katif, and 12% in the Golan, primarily for the town of Katzrin.119

26 December — Speaking before the Knesset, Begin reaffirms the Zionist principle that “the Jewish people have an unchallengeable, historical, eternal right to Eretz Yisrael.” This principle allows him to go on to say that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip “.are not conquered territories.”12 0

B - ISRAELI PRACTICES IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

There is little difference between the way the Israeli authorities implement their policies in the various territories under consideration — the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, the Palestinian territories annexed in 1948, and the occupied Syrian territory of the Golan (1st, 2nd and 3rd subdivisions respectively in this section): Expropriation, the establishment of settlements, repression of everything which is not Jewish (through arrests, demolitions, collective punishment etc...) all stem form the same Zionist

115. Ma’ariv, 16/12/79, p. 4. 116. Jerusalem Post, 25/12/79, p. 2. Cf. note 16, p 12 117. Davar, 26/12/79, p. 1. 118. The Guardian, 27/12/79, p. 1. 119. Ma’ariv, 31/12/79, p. 2. 120. Jerusalem Post, 27/12/79, p. 2.

32

ideology which envisages the ultimate swallowing up of these territories. The strategic objective of the Zionist leaders, who in 1948 seized a major portion of Palestine, is to annex the remainder of the Palestinian territories which fell under their sway in 1967, together with the Syrian Golan Heights.

At the same time, the Israeli practices in the occupied territories come within the specific political context of the territories in question. Thus, what goes on in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is indissociable from Israel’s determination to impose, by whatever means, the administrative autonomy plan. The repression which affects all sectors of the population, the measures taken against the mayors and municipal councils, the economic burdens, the appropriation of natural resources, in particular land and water, all these measures are directly linked to Begin’s project, the major features of which we have already seen. This intrinsic link between practice and political context leads to the intensification of certain specific actions, such as the armed aggressions by settlers against the indigenous population. The present circumstances, in which the future of the West Bank is of fundamental significance, explain why we have devoted particular attention to these territories in this section.

As far as the Palestinian territories annexed in 1948 are concerned, we have laid emphasis on the regions with the most dense Palestinian populations, principally the Negev and Galilee. The policy of discrimination against the Palestinians of these two territories is generalised, as the extracts of the communique we have included after the factual breakdown demonstrate.

1. West Bank and Gaza Strip

1 January — The settlement of Kiryat Arba’, an urban settlement established in 1968 on the outskirts of Hebron. Ground levelling work for a new quarter for the settlement has been going on for a short while1 when Housing Minister Gideon Patt announces that by April 1980, 200 housing units will be built there, in addition to the 100 already under construction.2 The government’s short term plan is the construction of 500 new housing units at Kiryat.Arba’,3 The Gush Emunim, to whom the settlement is affiliated, plan to transform Kiryat Arba’ into a town for 60,000 inhabitants, and in the immediate term to construct 1,000 housing units. The Gush submit their demands to Begin on 8 April, at the very moment that followers of the movement are temporarily occupying the Kharass area which overlooks Hebron. This area had been “closed off” for the enlargement of Kiryat Arba , but has not been put at the disposal of the settlement.4 Another

1. Davar, 1/1/79, p. 1. 2. Davar, 2/1/79, p. 1. 3. Jerusalem Post, 8/2/79, p. 3. 4. Jerusalem Post, 10/4/79, p. 2.

33

project, also involving Kiryat Arba’, is awaiting government approval. The project envisages the construction of a factory specialising in aircraft engines and is estimated to cost IL 100 million. 1,200 settlers would work there.5

2 January — Arrests at al-Aysawiyeh, a village to the east of Jerusalem. Dozens of Palestinians from the village are arrested following the explosion of a charge being put together by ‘Abd ‘Ashur (from Dora) and ‘Aref Shark (al-Aysawiyeh). Both men are killed instantly.6

3 January — The settlement of Neveh Tsuf, established in 1977 in the Ramallah region, is “legally” recognised by the occupation authorities. The settlers living there will one day be able “to write on their identity papers that they are citizens of Neveh Tsuf, Ramat Hashomron.” Meanwhile, the Land Department has completed construction of a new road, six km. long and costing IL 3 million.7 This road will be linked to the main highway going from Kafr Qassem and ending up in the Jordan Valley.8 9 10 In November, a grove of citrus trees is planted out on a plot of “closed-off land” some 300 metres from Neveh Tsuf.

7 January - Arrest in Qalandiya of 35 people following the explosion of a

charge.1 °

9 January — Expropriation at Aqraba, a village to the east of Nablus. Some 500 families in the village “receive notification by post that their land is going to be expropriated.” The military spokesman claims that the expropriation only involves 130 dunums. According to him, the land to be expropriated lies mostly “adjacent to cultivated land.” He adds that the large number of people affected (500 families) is on account of the fact that the land is to be used for the widening of a road. However, the inhabitants of the village, who are enraged by the expropriation decision, affirm that “thousands of dunums are threatened with seizure.”11

11 January - Agriculture threatened with destruction in Jericho region. The Jericho region is traditionally an agricultural region, 135,000 dunums of farming land supporting 13,000 people distributed between the villages of al-Auja, al-Duyuk, ‘Aqbat Jaber, al-Nuwey’ameh, and Jericho itself. In January, al-Auja starts having acute water problems. The village’s wells eventually dry up completely. The root cause of this problem — the establishment of Israeli settlements in the area which tap its water resources — has a cumulative effect, and subsequently the wells of al-Duyuk and

5. Yediot Aharanot, 30/10/79, p. 17. 6. Davar, 3/1/79, p. 2. 7. Ma’ariv, 4/1/79, p. 4. 8. Al-Tali’a, No. 81, 20/9/79, p. 1. 9. AI-Tali’a, No. 88, 8/11/79, p. 4. 10. Al-Ittihad, 9/1/79, p. 1 ; and Le Monde, 9/1/79, p. 7. 11 .Davar, 10/1/79, p. 1.

34

al-Nuwey’ameh also start drying up.12 At the beginning of January, the inhabitants of al-Auja send the occupation

authorities “a letter of protest against the sudden cutting off of their water, pointing out that this will inevitably damage their crops and eventually force them off their land.” The Jericho municipality sends water tankers to help the most sorely afflicted, but Mayor ‘Abd al-Aziz Suwaiti cautions that he will only be able to provide enough water at current consumption levels for a few days.13 The villagers are eventually reduced to buying drinking water at exorbitant prices (IL 400 per gallon), as they make clear in an interview with al-Tali’a in June.

During this interview they speak of the desiccation of their land, stressing that shortages in their irrigation water supplies began three years ago when the first wells were sunk for the settlements established in the region (Yitav, Na’aran etc.). They point out that whereas the village previously had 8,000 dunums of land under cultivation, this has now shrunk to between 250 and 300 dunums. From April onwards a state of complete drought prevails, caused by the artesian wells sunk by the five settlements established between ’Ayn al-Auja (the source) and al-Auja (the village). “5,000 dunums of market gardens are destroyed. The net loss per dunum to the farmer works out to between IL 10 and 20 thousand.” This is not counting the 2,700 dunums or so of banana and citrus trees which have withered away. The annual yield per dunum from the latter was worth 200 to 300 Jordanian dinars. The villagers also declare that the military authorities “refuse to give us permission to dig artesian wells, never mind the fact that for 60 days we have been asking in vain for them to supply us with drinking water.” They add that “about 800 villagers don’t have enough money to buy water for their daily consumption' and have therefore had to leave for neighbouring regions.” Those who have stayed say: “The death of the trees has brought us to the verge of famine... the cutting off of our water has left us with nothing to drink... We face death from starvation and thirst... are al-Auja and the Jordan Valley to be transformed into desert ? 5,14 The villagers are equally afraid that the authorities will not respond to their requests for permission to sink artesian wells or, at their own expense, to sink a communal well for the village.15

In September, “several villagers in the Jordan valley tell foreign diplomats visiting the area that their wells have dried up because of the drilling of wells for the settlements in the region.”16 The villages of al-Nuwey’ameh and al-Duyuk “have been maintaining since July that the construction of artesian wells was going ahead (as in the case of al-Auja) even in places where the water sources supplying the two villages were actually being tapped. Moreover, in order to supply the settlements of the Dead Sea region,17 the

12. Al-Tali’a, No. 71, 12/7/79, p. 4. 13. Al-Tali’a, No. 45, 11/1/79, p. 2. 14. Al-Tali’a, No. 69, 28/6/79, p. 2. 15. Al-Tali’a, No. 71, 12/7/79, p. 4 ; Ha’aretz, 9/8/79, p. 3 ; and International Herald Tribune 8/10/79, p. 4. 16. Ha’aretz, 12/9/79, p. 1. 11. Al-Tali’a, op. cit.

Development of Israeli settlements in The West Bank in 1979

A settlements fixed as permanent sites ■ settlements with changed status

A reinforced settlements • new settlements

▲ reinforced settlements • new settlements

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Mekorot Company has constructed artesian wells near where another source (’Ain al-Qalat, north of the Jerusalem-Jericho road) is tapped. The Mekorot Company, however, claimed that its drilling operations would not harm the water resources of the indigenous population.”18

The water problem at al-Auja remains acute. The population of the village stress that the destruction of their crops is not due to the dry winter as the military authorities claim. In a lengthy article, a Washington Post correspondent writes that the yearly loss to the farmers is estimated at $2.7 million. He adds that “the Arab farmers find little cause for understanding the Israeli view when they drive by the 6,000 acres of rich, irrigated citrus and vegetable fields nearby that are fed by Israeli pumps.” The farmers warn that if the settlers go on irrigating their fields as they are now, “even the historic oasis city of Jericho could dry up and become a virtual ghost town like al-Auja.”19

13 January — Restriction of the Hebron Municipality’s powers. The municipality is forbidden from financing projects in villages coming under the jurisdiction of the municipality. The military authorities aim to restrict the municipality’s power to the limits of the town.2 0

14 January — Closure of a house in Nablus on the orders of the military governor of the region. The “crime” committed by the owner, Sharif Kalbuna, consists in the fact that members of his family are presently “under interrogation.”21 Israeli attorney Mrs. Felicia Langer is questioned by journalists at a press conference on the case of the Bir Zeit students who were arrested in November and December 1978 in the course of a wave of arrests at the University. She says that the students “were interrogated on the positions of their comrades and professors on Camp David and the administrative autonomy plan...” She adds that after seeing evidence that some of the students had been subjected to torture she demanded, without effect, that an impartial medical commission be allowed to examine them.

Mrs. Langer draws special attention to the cases of five students whom she had undertaken to defend : “...They had been tortured. One of them — I cannot reveal their names for reasons of which I am sure you are well aware — told me that he had been subjected to torture and all manner of humiliation : they had spat in his mouth, and he had been forced to swallow the spittle. Another student had been hung by his hands. The life of another

18. Ha’aretz, op. cit. 19. International Herald Tribune, op. cit., The situation in the Jericho region is in danger of becoming still worse. On 3 December, Drobless announces that the Ministerial Settlement Committee has decided to complete the construction of six settlements in the Jericho area over the next two years. These settlements will be Na’ama A, B and C, Almog B, Beit Ha’arafah, and Mitspeh Yarihou B. They will be based on agriculture, industry and tourism. (Jerusalem Post, 14/12/79, p. 1 ; and Davar, 14/12/79, p. 3). According to the Jerusalem Post, one of settlements to be established is Almog C, not Beit Ha’arafah as reported by Davar. 20- Jerusalem Post, 14/1/79, p. 2. 21. Jerusalem Post, 15/1/79, p. 3.

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student was placed in danger after one of his kidneys ceased to function. The fourth student could not even talk to me because of severe pain in his throat — his interrogator had strangled him with a rope. The fifth student had been beaten on his genitals.”22

15 January — Establishment of Nu‘eima, to the north of Jericho. Work on the construction of this Nahal settlement gets underway, following the ratification (on 14 January) of the final decision to go ahead with the establishment of three of the five Nahal which were decided on by the Ministerial Defence Committee on 28 June 1978. One of the two remaining Nahal settlements to be established is to be in the Tel Sultan region of the Gaza Strip, the other near Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley. According to the plans of the Settlement Department of the World Zionist Organisation, the two other Nahal settlements of the original five envisaged in the decision of 26 June 1978 will be established at a later date.2 3

On 31 January, the Nahal take over their new settlement.24

15 January — Establishment of Mehola Bet in the north of the Jordan Valley. This new Nahal settlement will be built near the settlement of Mehola A which was established in 1967 on the road between Beisan and Jericho. It will make up part of a four-settlement complex linking the settlements in the Beisan Valley with those in the Jordan Valley.24 On 6 February the Nahal settlers move in.2 5

15 January — Establishment of Ha-Gadid in the Gaza Strip. Work on the construction of this new Nahal settlement gets underway. On 29 January, the nucleus for the settlement, hitherto lodged in Kfar Darom, move into their new site, Ha-Gadid (Tel Sultan), to the northwest of Rafah along the border with Egyptian territory. Ha-Gadid is designed to replace Yamit, the settlement complex in the Sinai to the south of the Gaza Strip which has to be evacuated according to the terms of the agreements signed with Egypt.26

16 January — Tepuah settlement : Expropriation at Yassouf. The inhabitants of the village of Yassouf, to the south of Nablus, appeal to the High Court of Justice against the establishment of the civilian settlement of Tepuah on 200 dunums of their land, seized for “military purposes.”2 7 The land was used in 1978 in order to establish this new Gush Emunim settlement.

16 January — The town of Ma‘aleh Adumim : Expropriation at Abu Deis village, east of Jerusalem. The residents of the village protest to the military government against ground-clearing work which has been going on for a

22. Al-Ittihad, 16/1/79, p. 6. 23. Jerusalem Post, 16/1/79, p. 2 and 4/2/79, p. 1 \Haaretz, 23/2/79, p. 1. 24. International Herald Tribune, 3-4/2/79, p. 1 ; and Jerusalem Post, 4/2/79, p. 1. 25. Jerusalem Post, 16/1/79, p. 2 and 8/2/79, p. 1 \ Davar 5/2/79, p. 1. 26. Jerusalem Post, 16/1/79, p. 2 and 4/2/79, p. 1 ; International Herald Tribune, op. cit. ; Maariv, 7/2/79, p. 6 ;and Anw, 31/1/79, p. 1. 27. Davar and Jerusalem Post, 16/1/79, p. 3.

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month in the region called “Khirbet al-Murassas”. They affirm that they own some 15,000 dunums of land in this region. The military government tells them that the land was expropriated five years before, for “military purposes’". In fact the seized land is slated for the creation of a new residential quarter for the industrial zone of Ma‘aleh Adumim.2 8

On 8 August, the corner-stone for Ma'aleh Adumim is laid in a ceremony attended by Housing Minister David Levy, who declares that by the creation of this new town “the Green Line will disappear forever in this part of the country.”29 Commenting on the ceremony, a spokesman for the ministerial settlement committee declares that the new town will constitute “a major link” in the second chain of new towns encircling Jerusalem. The other towns in this chain are Giv’on and Beit El to the north, and Efrat to the south. The first chain, considered as being an integral part of Jerusalem, includes the settlements of Ramot, Neveh Ya‘acov and Gilo.30 The town of Ma‘aleh Adumim will occupy 30,000 dunums of land expropriated in 1975.31 The construction of 300 housing units will be completed by 1980, with 5,000 more scheduled to be complete at the end of three years.3 2

16 January — Almog settlement, established in 1977 to the south of Jericho. The Defense Ministry and the World Zionist Organisation announce that this military Nahal outpost has been transformed into a civilian settlement.3 3

17 January — Jewish Quarter settlement. The Director of the company for the development of the old Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem announces during a press conference that “work on the infrastructure of the quarter... is entering into its final stages. The archeological surveys undertaken in the area have been completed. Presently 450 families live in the Jewish Quarter.” In response to a question on the expulsion of the Arabs who lived in the quarter, he says that they have been “rehoused” in other quarters.34

18 January — Arrests in Jerusalem. Following the explosion of a charge in the city’s main market, 30 “suspects” are arrested.3 5

20 January — Settlement of Neveh Ya'acov : Expropriation at Hizma and Jaba’, east of Jerusalem. About 150 residents of the two villages receive letters notifying them “that their land has been put up for sale,” and that the military government has signed the relevant purchasing orders. The land selected for expropriation lies to the northeast of the settlement of Neveh Ya'acov, which the Israeli occupation authorities plan to expand. On 30 January, the landowners announce their refusal to go to the military

28. Idem. 29. Ma‘ariv, 9/8/79, p. 4. 30. Jerusalem Post, 9/8/79, p. 2. 31. Idem ; al-Ittihad, 14/8/79, p. 1 32. Ma’ariv, op. cit. 33. Jerusalem Post, 17/1/79, p. 2. 34. Al-Hamishmar, 18/1/79, p. 3. 35. Jerusalem Post, 19/1/79, p. 1.

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governor to “receive the payment for their land” which has been sold without their consent. They add that they intend to take their case to court.3 6

However, work has already begun on the 3,000 dunums of confiscated land.3 7 By the end of the year, the building of 136 housing units is planned at Neveh Ya‘acov, which will mark the completion of the settlement’s initial stage.3 8

It is also planned to make Neveh Ya'acov and French Hill into one territorial entity. Thousands of dunums of land — 7,000 according to Davar — are to be expropriated for this purpose between the southern part of Neveh Ya'acov and the settlement of French Hill, in the eastern sector of Jerusalem.

“However, there are Arab dwellings in the region to be expropriated... The area is earmarked for (Jewish) construction and the expansion of the government buildings there”.39 Meanwhile, a report on the potential for construction in the suburbs of Jerusalem in the next five years has been submitted by Housing Minister David Levy.40

20 January — Arrest and Deportation of Riad Abu Awad, a student at Bir Zeit University. The military authorities, who suspect him of being the instigator of a message of support which the Arab students of the Universities of Haifa and Jerusalem sent to the Palestine National Congress, arrest him without presenting any concrete evidence against him, and decide to deport him to Lebanon.4 1 On 3 May the High Court ratifies the expulsion order.42

On 8 May, at daybreak, Riad Abu Awad, is “dumped by Israeli troops on the Lebanese border. He was forced under threat of gunfire” to walk into the enclave of the secessionist Sa’ad Haddad.43 Haddad’s militia “interrogate” him before handing him over to the UNIFIL forces.44

21 January — Expropriation at Anata village, east of Jerusalem. The High Court of Justice refuses to annul the order for the seizure of land belonging to the village. The order came into effect in 1978. Rehashing the arguments put forward by the military government, the High Court decides that “the seizure of 1,740 dunums of uncultivated land in the village of Anata responded to purely military needs as the Israeli army wants to establish a camp there.” This decision by the Court annuls an interim injunction which the 40 landowners in Anata managed to obtain at the beginning of the affair.

The landowners maintain that the land seized amounts to 3,000 dunums, and not 1,740 as the military authorities claim. They add that, despite

36. Davar, 1/2/79, p. 2. 37. Yediot Aharonot, 1/2/79, p. 7. 38. Jerusalem Post, 9/2/79, p. 3. 39. Ha‘aretz, 17/8/79, p. 1 ; Davar, 19/8/79, p. 3. 40. Davar, op. cit. 41. Davar, 31/1/79, p. 2. 42. Jerusalem Post, 26/2/79 and 4/5/79, p. 2. 43. New Statesman, 18/5/79, p. 716. 44. Jerusalem Post, 6/5/79, p. 1.'

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allegations to the contrary, their land is “cultivated and provides the livelihood for 200 people, and that even supposing the army’s real intention was in fact to build a camp, and not a settlement as the landowners believe, this camp could just as well have been established elsewhere.” The High Court answers them that the considerations concerning the establishment of a military camp are of a strictly military nature, which the Court is not in a position to question.45

21 January — Sentencing of students. Amal al-Jawhari, a student from Nablus, is sentenced to three years imprisonment, two of them suspended. She is charged with membership in the Palestinian Resistance. The student Zaha Fayez Freyteh is sentenced to a similar term for having taken part in demonstrations in 1978. She is also charged with teaching ’Ali Wijdan ’Abdel Ghani al-Sarawi how to make Molotov cocktails. The latter, aged 18, is sentenced to seven years imprisonment, three of them suspended. The three sentences are passed by the military court in Nablus.4 6

24 January — Shilo settlement, to the northwest of Ramallah. It was established in 1978 on the land of the villages of Turmus ’Aya, Silwad and others in the area. The Gush Emunim settlers who built the settlement were presented at the time as being an “archeological mission”, despite the fact that the decision to establish a settlement had been taken earlier, on 23 October 1977. In 1979, Shilo is recognised as a “permanent settlement”.

The process of recognising Shilo goes through a number of phases. It begins in January 1979 with the installation of 20 pre-fabricated houses, and with the concomitant decision of the government “to pay the settlers fixed salaries.” Next, on 13 April, the Ministerial Defence Committee decides that the “permanent settlement” of Shilo will be 2 km. from its present location. This decision is ratified on 22 April by the government, which claims that Shilo’s permanent site will be on “state-owned” land.47

In June, the Gush Emunim settlers begin ground-levelling work.48 At the end of December it is announced that “bulldozers have finished cutting a road 1.5 km long and 13 m wide linking Shilo with the main Nablus-Ramallah road.” The road also passes through cultivated land belonging to the inhabitants of Turmus ’Aya.49

25-28 January — Curfew on Abu Deis. Claiming that they are carrying out a search operation for 13 Palestinians “suspected” of being the authors of a series of attacks against Israeli targets, the army surrounds Abu Deis, near Jerusalem, and imposes a three-day curfew. The villagers tell newsmen that during the period of the curfew, water and electricity were cut off. West Bank Military Commander, Brig. Gen. Ben-Eliezer claims that “only telephone communication was cut.”50

45. Ma’ariv, 22/1/79, p. 12 ; Jerusalem Post, 22/1/79, p. 2 ; and al-Ittihad, 23/1/79, p. 1. 46. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 2. 47. Hatsofeh, 24/1/79, p. 1 ; Davar, 15/2/79, p. 2 ; Jerusalem Post, 23/4/79, p. 1 ; International Herald Tribune, 23/4/79, p. 1 \Davar, 23/4/79, p. 2 ; and Haaretz, 23/4/79, p. 1. 48. Al-Ittihad, 26/6/79, p. 1. 49. Al-Tali’a, No. 93, 13/12/79, p. 2. 50. Davar, 28/1/79, p. 3 ; International Herald Tribune, 27/1/79, p. 2 ; al-Ittihad, 30/1/79, p. 6.

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28 January — The case of Usama Muhammad Jarar, detained in Bir al-Saba’ prison. Attorney Walid Fahoum visits him on 28 January, and sees that his client’s physical condition is extremely grave. “Usama Muhammad Jarar, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1970, aged 17, was arrested following a clash with an Israeli patrol in the Jordan Valley. He is suffering from a number of chronic ailments : his lungs are seriously inflamed ; the left side of his body is paralysed ; he finds the slightest mental concentration impossible.”51 For five years he has been promised an operation to relieve the pounding he feels inside his head, but he has still not received any treatment.5 2

29 January — Settlement of Giv’on : 5 3 Expropriation at Ramallah. The military government has recently ordered the Ramallah municipality “to cease issuing building permits” on 3,000 dunums of land to the south of the town. The land in question, which has been under the municipality’s jurisdiction since 1962, is to be used for the expansion of Giv’on.54

30 January — Demolition of houses in Abu Deis and in the Nablus region.5 5 The house demolished in Abu Deis belongs to Muhammad Daoud Abu Hilal. “The soldiers came before dawn in the early hours of 30 January. The whole village was under curfew. Under orders transmitted through loud-hailers the family hastily moved their wardrobe, the washing machine , the cooker and the refrigerator out into the yard, where they are now piled up in front of what remains of the house. A bulldozer razed the house to the ground in a few minutes. The reason for the demolition was that two months previously, Muhammad Daoud Abu Hilal, his wife and two daughers, had allowed their nephew, Ahmed Abu Hilal, to stay in their house. Ahmed, twenty-four years old, was arrested on charges of having carried out two bomb attacks in Jerusalem in 1978... During the same night, three more families are made homeless. Three more houses are demolished in the same fashion and for the same reason — because a member of the family or a lodger had been arrested.”5 6

The houses demolished in the Nablus region are in Ras al-’Ain, Balata Camp and Qalil village. The first belongs to the family of Yusef Ibrahim ’Ashour, arrested one year ago and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. The house demolished in Balata Camp belongs to the family of Issa Shakhshir, arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The house demolished in the village of Qalil belongs to the family of Yusef ‘Amari, who is serving a prison sentence.5 7

30 January — Measures taken against Dr. Hamzeh al-Natsheh. The military government forbids Dr. Hamzeh al-Natsheh, a resident of Bethlehem and a

51. Al-Ittihad, 9/2/79, p. 3. 52. Al-Ittihad, 28/9/79, p. 3. 53. Cf. Section A, pp. 10 and 26. 54. Yediot Aharanot, 1/2/79, p. 7. 55. Le Monde, 31/1/79, p. 40 \Al-Hamishmar, 31/1/79, p. 3 \Davar, 31/1/79, p. 1. 56. Le Monde, 3/2/79, p. 5. 51. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 1.

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member of the Palestine National Congress, from participating in a press conference organised by the ‘Committee for a Just Peace.’ “Dr. al-Natsheh was deported from the West Bank just before the municipal elections of 1976... he was allowed to return to the West Bank in July 1978.”5 8

On 22 February, the military government forbids Dr. al-Natsheh from “standing as a candidate for the presidency of the Medical Association, since the functions involved in such a post are hard to distinguish from political activity... which Dr. al-Natsheh is strictly forbidden from indulging in.” Dr. al-Natsheh, however, points out that, contrary to the allegations of the Minister of Defence, his return to the West Bank did not come about as part of a deal whereby he would engage to abstain from any kind of political activity. At the end of February, through the intermediary of Attorney Felicia Danger, he presents an appeal to the High Court of Justice calling on it to forbid the Minister of Defence from “interfering in his public life.”59

30 January — Measures taken against teachers. The headmaster of the Sinjil school, near Ramallah, and a teacher in the school are sent away to a distant village for having stuck a PLO poster on a classroom wall.6 0

31 January — Sentencing of ’Ali al-’Awadeh (19 1/2 years old) by the military court in Hebron to ten years imprisonment for planting an explosive charge.6 1

1 February — Two houses bricked up in East Jerusalem. One of the owners, Tewfiq Hassan Abu Zahra, is charged with harbouring Nasser Sa’id al-Effendi, suspected of belonging to an organisation of the Resistance, and arrested on 25 January. The other owner is charged with harbouring Tewfiq Suleiman Jaber, from Abu Deis, who is suspected of having carried out two bomb attacks.62

3 February — Strike at Ramleh Prison. A communique issued in Jerusalem states that the political detainees in Ramleh prison, have resumed their strike, begun ten months ago, in protest against their lamentable living conditions.6 3

The prisoners, who are refusing to go out to meet their families, demand : 1 - An improvement in the quality of their food, an increase in their rations and the right to supervise the preparation of their food. 2 - Free access to cultural books. 3 — Extending the daily exercise period by half an hour, so that it becomes two hours, divided into a morning period and an evening period. 4 — A stop to the beatings and insults to which they are subjected from the Jewish common law prisoners and the border guards. 5 — Adequate medical treatment. Numerous detainees suffer from chronic ailments caused

58. Le Monde, 31/1/79, p. 3. 59. Ha’aretz, 26/2/79, p. 10 \al-Ittihad, 27/2/79, p. 1. 60. Jerusalem Post, 31/1/79, p. 3. 61. Idem. 62. Ma’ariv, 1/2/79, p. 1. 63. Davar, 4/2/79, p. 1.

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by the conditions of their detention and by the total lack of any medical care. 6 — That clothes be allowed to be brought freely into the prison from outside, and that the humiliations and insults, to which the prisoners’ relatives are subjected when they come to visit, be stopped. 7 — An increase in the monthly sum the prisoners are allowed to receive from their relatives. The IL 100 presently authorised should be doubled in the light of inflation. 8 — The right to send and receive letters. 9 — Freedom of movement during their daily exercise period in the prison yard. 10—Lessening the overcrowding in their cells — in some cases there are 70 prisoners to a cell.64

The prison administration deliberately ignores their requests. This lack of attention leads three of the prisoners to lodge a complaint in the High Court of Justice, through the intermediary of Attorney Felicia Langer.65

Langer visits 12 detainees in Ramleh prison on 28 February and listens to their grievances. They confirm that their strike is still being observed, and with regard to the conditions in the prison, they draw attention in particular to the case of one young prisoner who is suffering heart problems but has been denied any treatment or medical attention. They also tell her of the case of Ahmad Karabiseh, 77 years old who has gone almost completely blind.66

6 February — The case of Ismail Khalil Abu Salaymeh, 25 years old, detained in ’Asqalan prison and sentenced to life imprisonment on 30 July 1972 by the military court in Lydd. Felicia Langer pays him a visit on 12 January 1979 and addresses letters to the International Red Cross and various human rights committees and organisations asking for their help in trying to secure this prisoner’s release. The complete text of her letter is published by al-Ittihad,67 She writes : “I had not seen him for years. When he came out to meet me I was struck by the fact that his lips were trembling and he was generally very nervous. He told what had happened to him. He complained to me of the severe overcrowding in the prison, telling me that he lived with 17 other prisoners in a 4 m2 cell. He said that the food provided in the prison was contaminated and that the prison authorities treated the detainees extremely harshly, constantly humiliating them, rejecting their requests, refusing even to listen to their demands.” On 20 December 1978, unable to control himself any longer Abu Salaymeh hit one of his guards. “He was immediately consigned to solitary confinement and a male nurse came to give him an injection. Abu Salymeh had no idea what he was being injected with. He started feeling dizzy and generally weak and was unable to' focus his mind on anything.” Despite his protests, he was given eight more injections. On 28 December 1978, he tried to commit suicide. He said : “Before, we were beaten. Now they have discovered this new form of punishment.” Abu Salaymeh tells Langer of the case of another prisoner who was given an injection.

64. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 1. 65. Al-Ittihad, 13/3/79, p. 3 66. Idem. 67. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 2.

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7-18 February — Closure of the Ramallah Secondary School. This collective punishment is imposed by military government decree following demonstrations by the schoolchildren against the expropriation of landand the demolition of houses. The school stays closed until 18 February. Several teachers are transferred to schools in remote villages in order to “punish them for not maintaining discipline.” The schoolchildren who participated in the demonstrations are ordered to pay hefty fines (up to IL 10,000).6 8

8 February — Curfew on al-4Amari camp, near Ramallah. The curfew is imposed at dawn under the pretext that youths from the camp had thrown stones at a military vehicle during the demonstration that took place the day before in protest against colonisation and the demolition of houses. A large force of regular troops and police conduct a house-to-house search in the camp. Almost 100 adolescents suspected of participating in the demonstration are arrested. Their parents “are warned that they have a duty to prevent their children from disturbing the peace.” At mid-day, the curfew is lifted and the youths released.6 9

8 February — Administrative Measures taken against Bassam al-Shak’a, Mayor of Nablus, for having taken part in the organised protests against the new arrangements concerning the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.70 The Israeli authorities forbid him from travelling to an Arab country, taking part in public conferences or meetings, and receiving funds from abroad destined for the Nablus municipality.7 1 These measures have been the object of “prior consultations at the highest level. During these consultations more measures against al-Shak’a were discussed.”7 2

The Mayor of Nablus declares that forbidding him from receiving funds destined for the municipality constitutes a “collective punishment” with regard to the population of the town.7 3

15 February — Settlement of Tekoa, established in 1975 to the southeast of Bethlehem. Matityahu Drobless announces that the ministerial settlement committee has approved the construction of 250 housing units at Tekoa.74

16 February — Reprisal measures against schoolchildren. The military authorities expel five students from thzHashem secondary school in Jericho. The children are forbidden even from entering another school in the area, in a vain attempt by the military authorities to prevent them from demonstrating against the occupation. Meanwhile, in Nablus, Israeli soldiers attack a group of schoolchildren crossing the road. The reason given for the attack is that “all gatherings are forbidden”. At the same time the authorities make a mass arrest of students in Qalandiya.7 5

68. Davar, 19/2/79, p. 3. 69. Hat sofeh, 9/2/79, p. 11 \Davar, 9/2/79, p. 2. 70. Cf Section C, p. 105. 11.Davar, 9/2/79, p. 2 \ al-Ittihad, 13/2/79, pp. 1 and 6. 72. Al-Hamishmar, 9/2/79, p. 2. 73. Davar, 11/2/79, p. 3 ; and al-Ittihad, op. cit. 74. Jerusalem Post, 15/2/79, p. 2. 75. Al-Ittihad, 16/2/79, p. 8.

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18 February — Curfew on Qalandiya. The reason given for the imposition of the curfew is that a Molotov cocktail has been thrown at an Israeli military vehicle. A massive house-to-house search is made and dozens of citizens are arrested.76

19 February — Confiscation of the assets of the Supreme Islamic Council of Jerusalem. The money deposited by the Council in various banks in East Jerusalem is seized. The Council is thereby rendered unable to pay its taxes and rents, which amount to several million Israeli pounds.7 7

19 February — Measures taken against West Bank mayors. It is reported in the press that the military government has warned the mayors of the West Bank against participating in gatherings or press conferences of a political nature.78

23 February — Measures taken -against students. The military authorities ban a number of Education students at Bir Zeit University from continuing their apprenticeship teaching in the government schools of the region, on the grounds that instead of teaching, they had incited pupils to demonstrate and organised discussions on topics which had nothing to do with the subject being taught.79

25 February — Afforestation works in Jerusalem. Ground levelling work is underway on a 350 dunum site between the settlements of Giv’on and Neveh Samuel with the aim of planting trees for the benefit of the settlements which are to be established in the region. The site was marked out in the course of topographical surveys currently in progress, which are designed to determine which “state-owned land in the West Bank is to be used for establishing new settlements or expanding existing ones.”80

27 February — Administrative Detention of Karim Elias al-Atrash, of Beit Sahour. Arrested on 4 December 1978, al-Atrash did not have the benefit of a trial. Despite undergoing torture, he could not be induced to sign “a confession in which he would admit that he was a member of the Resistance.” On 27 February, the order is given to place him under administrative detention.81

28 February-2 March — Curfew on Jalazoun Camp. No reason is given for the curfew, which lasts three days. House-to-house searches are conducted, and the inhabitants of the camp are subjected to a reign of terror. Economic life is paralysed.82

76. Al-Ittihad, 20/2/79, p. 6. 77. Hatsofeh, 19/2/79, p. 2. 78. Davor, 19/2/79, p. 3. 79. Ma’ariv, 23/2/79, p. 4. 80. Ma’ariv, 25/2/79. p. 4. 81. Al-Ittihad, 27/2179, p. 6. 82. Al- Ittihad, 2/3/79, p. 6.

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Beginning of March — Establishment of Matityahu. Expropriation at Ni’ilin, northwest of Ramallah. Earthworks to level a site for the settlement of Matityahu begin on a stretch of land under cultivation and belonging to the villagers of Ni’ilin. No decree ordering the expropriation of the land has been issued. Ten villagers, who between them own the 700 dunums of land on which the earthworks have started, appeal to the High Court of Justice affirming that the work in progress is threatening their vegetable fields and orchards, quite apart from the fact that it is in violation of international conventions.83

On 24 April, they obtain an order from the High Court of Justice requiring the Minister of Defence and the military commander of the West Bank to show cause within 30 days why work should continue on the site.84

On 10 July, the Israeli Army Co-ordinator of Operations in the Occupied Territories, General Dany Matt, claims in an affidavit submitted to the High Court that the land in question (supposedly only 500 dunums), which has been seized from the villagers of Ni’ilin for the establishment of Matityahu settlement is “essential to the security of Ben Gurion Airport, and that the new civilian settlement would make an important contribution to the security of the airport and the new block of settlements due to be built in the Mod’in area. General Matt also alleges that “most of the land is rocky”, and that “only a small portion is cultivated and privately owned.” He adds that the site for Matityahu is “close to the site slated for the junction between the road from Latrun to Nebi Saleh and the planned fast highway linking north Jerusalem to the coastal plain.”8 5

On 25 July, the High Court of Justice cancels the injunction which it issued in April against the Defence Minister and the West Bank military commander concerning the seizure of the land at Ni’ilin. The court bases its decision on the alleged “security reasons” which General Matt had brought forward to justify the expropriation, and thus authorises the establishment of Matityahu. The owners of the land are admonished and ordered to pay IL 2,000 costs.8 6

Even before the court ruling comes into effect, work is resumed on the settlement. Ground for an access road is levelled and a site cleared for the construction of several houses. Eight families are waiting in the neighbouring settlement of Mevo Horon until they can move into the new settlement. Eight more families, belonging to the ‘Merom Zion’ settlement nucleus affiliated to the Poalai Agudat Yisrael movement, which is responsible for Matityahu, are scheduled to arrive from the USA in a month.8 7

On 24 August, the High Court affirms that political considerations entered into the reckoning in the Ni’ilin case. In the final text of its reasoned judgement on the case, the court declares that the possibility of “drastic changes in the political and security situation in the West Bank” should be taken into account.88

83. Al-Ittihad, 27/4/79, p. 2 ; and Davar, 25/4/79, p. 2. 84. Jerusalem Post, 25/4/79, p. 3. 85. Jerusalem Post, 11/4/79, p. 2. 86. Ha’aretz, 26/7/79, p. 2 \al-Ittihad, 27/7/79, p. 8 ; The Guardian, 26/7/79, p. 6. 87. Jerusalem Post, 26/7/79, pp. 1 and 2. 88. Jerusalem Post, 27/8/79, p. 2.

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2-3 March — Sentencing of Bir Zeit students, arrested in 1978 on account of their opposition to the Camp David accords. The military court in Ramallah sentences Sami Beshara ‘Atallah Yunis, Radi Abdel Jawad, ‘Attar Bushi, Nicholas Dbayeh, Rizq Shakkour Mar’iyeh, and Hakam Qadri to prison terms ranging from three to four years.8 9

2 March — Sentencing of school students by the military court in Ramallah for their alleged “political activity”. Rubhi ‘Awad Saleh ‘Aruri and Hakim Kan’an are sentenced to 18 months imprisonment each, with eight months suspended for the former and six months for the latter.90

2 March — Sentencing of unionist Sami Sem’an from Ramallah — despite the fact that he has a serious heart condition — to 18 months imprisonment, 10 months suspended, for his “political activity” in the Ramallah Trades Union.91

5 March — Sentencing of detainees. The military court in Jenin sentences Jamal Ahmad Nayef ‘Atiyeh (20 years old), Subhi Shaleh Damej (19), Abdel Latif Amin Shalabi (17), Khaled Ahmad Saba’ineh (17), and ‘Issam Abdel Rahman Nashrani (18) to prison terms ranging between six and twelve years on charges of having joined the Resistance.9 2

5 March — Establishment of the town of Efrat: 9 3 Expropriation at al- Khadr, to the south of Bethlehem. The West Bank military government issues an order for the expropriation of “several hundred dunums of Arab land to the east of Gush Etzion for the new town of Efrat.” Soon afterwards work begins on the levelling of a road to provide access to the settlement site for the construction equipment of the Housing Ministry, which is building Efrat.94

The ministerial settlement committee had decided on 7 February immediately to start construction of housing units for the new urban settlement seeing as work on the infrastructure was nearing completion.9 5 The committee decides that in all 5,000 units should be built, 300 of them in the course of the current fiscal year. Each unit will be allocated half a dunum.96 The new town, which will stand to the east of the Bethlehem-Hebron road opposite the settlement of Elazar, is to serve as an extension to Gush Etzion.9 7 It will house settlers from the United States, South Africa, Canada and Britain, and is slated to become an industrial centre with cultural and tourist facilities.98

89. Al-Ittihad, 2/3/79, p. 2, and 13/3/79, p. 2. 90. Al-Ittihad, 2/3/79, p. 2. 91. Idem. 92. Al-Ittihad, 13/3/79, p. 2. 93. Cf. Section A. p. 26. 94. Davar, 1/3/19, p. 1. 95. Davar, 8/2/79, p. 1. 96. Ha’aretz, 19/2/79, p. 3. 97. Davar and Ha’aretz, op. cit. 98. Hatsofeh, 19/8/79, p. 4.

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The realisation of this major project inevitably involves the expropriation of Palestinian land, and accordingly 13,000 dunums of land belonging to the villagers of al-Khadr in the regions of al-Nis, Qiqan, Daqmaq and Qa’deh al-Aridi are seized. A considerable portion of this land is planted with trees and cereals." The villagers are notified that they “will not be allowed to cultivate their land in the forthcoming season.” The problem that they face is that their land, like so much land in the West Bank, is not recorded in the Land Register. Nevertheless they have cultivated their plots for generations. They vigorously denounce the pretexts advanced by the military authorities,100 who affirmed on 7 March that the military decree issued two days before and ordering the expropriation only bore on “200 dunums in the region of Gush Etzion” and that the land seizure had been undertaken “for military purposes.”101

On 19 March, the day that the landowners receive notification by letter of the expropriation order, the occupation authorities mark out the site for the projected settlement of Efrat. A 300 dunums area is closed off to the east of the settlement of Elazar. In the first phase, 500 dunums of land will be prepared for the construction of Efrat.1®2

On 8 July levelling work for the construction of housing work is begun by a Housing Ministry team.10 3

6 March — Conditions in Tulkarm prison. Attorney Walid Fahoum visits a number of political detainees in Tulkarm prison, who relate to him the lamentable conditions in which they are living. Among other things, they cite : lack of sunlight ; lack of treatment for physical ailments and mental illness both of which are widespread ; the inadequacy of the financial assistance that they are entitled to receive from their families (IL 120 per month) ; forbidding Red Cross delegates from making their monthly visit.104

In June, the political detainee Khalil Abu Ziad, from the village of al-Ayzariyah to the east of Jerusalem, condemned in 1970 to ten years solitary confinement, presents a petition to the High Court of Justice, through the intermediary of Walid Fahoum. In his petition he states that the prison consists of five cells into which about 90 prisoners, all serving heavy sentences, are packed. The total surface area of the prison is 139.7 m2, which means that each prisoner has an average living area of 1.5 m2 — substantially less than the 2.5 m2 established for all Israeli prisons, according to a declaration by Haim Levy, the Director of Prisons. Abu Ziad adds that prisoners are forbidden to receive newspapers or possess a radio. Finally, he complains that the prisoners are entitled to only one visit per month from their families, and that they are undernourished and receive no medical care. Replying to the petition, the Governor of Tulkarm prison

99.Al-TalVa, No. 82, 27/9/79, p. 11. 100. Jerusalem Post, 17/10/79, p. 2. 101. Hatsofeh, 8/3/79, p, 6. 102. Ha'aretz, 20/3/79, p. 1, and 5/7/79, p. 1 -Le Monde, 21/3/79, p. 4. 103. Jerusalem Post, 9/7/79, p. 2. 104. Al-Ittihad, 6/3/79, p. 2.

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declares on 1 August before the High Court that the prison is indeed overcrowded. “However,” he says, “this is a problem which faces all the prisons, not just Tulkarm.” He also claims that there are in fact seven cells.

Before the second High Court session scheduled for 18 November, and which was to be devoted to the Attorney General’s Address to the Court, Khalil Abu Ziad is transferred to ‘Asqalan prison. The authorities forbid Walid Fahoum from visiting his client. When the court session opens, “the Tulkarm prison case” is considered closed bv the High Court on the grounds that the plaintiff is now in ‘Asqalan prison.1 °5

11 March — Armed aggression on Ramallah secondary school, during the national uprising against the visit of US President Carter to the Middle East and against the Israeli-Egyptian treaty which is soon to be signed. In an article entitled “Thus they will remember the visit of the leader of the Tree World’ and the ‘Home of Democracy,” Felicia Langer writes that the soldiers, without prior authorisation from the headmaster, stormed the school, firing off their weapons and detonating tear-gas grenades. An army officer orders the teachers in the school and the headmaster to sit on the ground. The soldiers insult them and shout obscenities at them. One of the teachers is beaten. Meanwhile, 17 students, the oldest one being 16 years of age, are arrested and forced to clear the streets of the rocks and stones that have been strewn there in the course of the demonstrations, all the time being savagely beaten by the soldiers. They are then taken to the military government HQ in Ramallah and forced to clean all the rooms and wash the vehicles of the soldiers and officers. They spend the night in a damp building orignally designed as a stable. They are kept there until the morning without blankets, while their parents are forbidden to give their children warm clothes. Following a warning by Langer herself that she is ready to mobilise journalists writing for the international press so that they can see for themselves the conditions under which the schoolchildren are detained, the authorities transfer them to Ramallah prison. The students are finally released 15 days later, having been ordered to pay fines of IL 10,000. Six of them are subsequently sentenced on 25 March to 10-month suspended prison sentences “for disturbing the peace.”1 06

13 March — Arbitrary detention of author Muhammad Ayoub, from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, for a period of 45 days. The measure appears linked to the fact that the military authorities interrogated him prior to his detention, on the publication of a collection of his stories entitled “The Savage.”1 07

13 March — Transfer of 700 secondary school students in Ramallah. The decree, issued by the officer in charge of the education department of the

105. Al-Ittihad, 4/12/79, p. 3. 106. Al-Ittihad, 10/4/79, p. 3. Cf. Section C, p. 108. 107. Al-Ittihad, 9/2/79, p. 1 and 13/3/79, p. 6.

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military government, comes into force on 17 March. He orders the transfer of the students to various village schools in the region. These schools are in the main ill-equipped and have scanty resources. A second decree orders the transfer of 28 members of the teaching staff. The headmasters of the schools in the Ramallah region protest to the military governor against this measure.108

14 March — Application of criminal legislation to adolescents. Two adolescents from Jerusalem are found guilty by the Jerusalem District court of belonging to an organisation of the Resistance. They appeal to the High Court of Justice. The High Court rejects the defence presented by Attorney Mimon, who, citing article 147 of the Penal Code, affirms that the defendants, both being 16 years old, cannot fall under criminal legislation. Referring to article 13, the court maintains that this article in no way takes into consideration whether children aged between 12 and 16 years are capable or not of discerning what they are legally forbidden to do. The court concludes that the Code makes no distinction between “actual transgressions and meditated transgressions, or transgressions by- association.”

In deciding that adolescents of less than 16 years old are responsible for their actions, the court sets a precedent.109

15 March —Expropriation at Beit El and Tubas.The High Court of Justice rejects the appeal lodged by 25 landowners of Beit El and Tubas whose land, expropriated in 1970, “for military purposes,” is being used for the establishment of the settlement of Beit El. The High Court decides unanimously that Beit El, despite being a civilian settlement, is “necessary for Israel’s defence system.” The Court rejects the landowners’ contention that the expropriation is illegal and in violation of international conventions. The High Court rules that the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War “is constitutive and therefore applicable only between parties to the convention and not between an occupying power and individual civilians.” The petitioners’ argument “is thus reduced... to the question of whether the respondents (the Defence Minister and the Military Governor of the West Bank) had contravened any of the provisions of the (1906) Hague Convention when they seized the petitioners’ lands.” The High Court rules that the Hague Convention, although applying to the case, does not refute the respondents’ arguments. Article 24 of the Convention forbids the occupying power to seize property except in cases when these seizures are dictated by “the necessities of war Article 46 specifies that the confiscation of private property is inadmissible. The High Court reaches its conclusion by claiming that “the land of the plaintiffs was not confiscated, rather it was requisitioned for use on a temporary basis... on the grounds of military necessity.” (High Court verdict, 606, 610/78).

\Q%. Al-TalVa, No. 58, 12/4/79, p. 2. 109. Ha‘aretz, 14/3/19, p. 4 ; Yediot Aharanot, 14/3/79, p. 13 ; Al-Ittihad, 20/3/79, p. 2.

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The High Court ruling annuls the two interim injunctions issued prior to the case requiring the Defense Minister and the Military Governor of the West Bank to show cause why they should not desist from establishing the civilian settlement.110

15 March — Detention of the Halhoul Municipal Council. At two o’clock in the morning, Halhoul Mayor Muhammad Milhem and the entire municipal council of the town are summoned to the offices of the military governor of Hebron. They respond immediately to the directive, especially seeing that they have just learned that at least three young people from the town had been arrested. The military governor does not receive them until nine o’clock the next morning, when he proceeds to accuse them of committing a grave offence. According to him, the mayor and the council members were responsible for the disturbances which had recently taken place in Halhoul. “When we returned to our town” Milhem says, “we learned that two young people had been killed.”111

15-30 March — Curfew on Halhoul. The imposition of a curfew on Halhoul has a double objective. The Zionist occupation authorities fear the repercussions of the deaths of the two young Palestinians — Rabi’a Shalaldeh, shot by a Kiryat Arba’ settler, and Nasri al-‘Anani, shot by a soldier112 and thus try to stifle a wave of angry reactions. They simultaneously attempt to create an atmosphere of terror as they vainly try to put a stop to the demonstrations that have been sweeping the occupied Palestinian territories since 10 March.

Until 30 March, when it is decreed that the curfew will be “provisionally” lifted,11 3 the inhabitants of Halhoul (population of between 9,000 and 11,000) are kept shut inside their homes. Throughout this period they are only allowed out for one hour per day, to get food and provisions, but this hour is not fixed, and every day the time for the lifting of the curfew is announced over loud-speakers. A large number of people miss the hour for lifting the curfew because they don’t hear the announcement — the inhabitants of the town not only have to keep their doors closed, they are even forbidden from coming near to the windows. If anyone tries to do so, the soldiers fire off their weapons, break into the house and beat up the occupants. When supplies start to run out, the authorities forbid shopkeepers to leave the town to replenish their stocks.

No food assistance is permitted to reach the town. On 21 March, the military authorities forbid the Hebron municipality from sending supplies to Halhoul.114 On 25 and 26 March they turn back residents of Kafr Sa’ir and other neighbouring villages who have organised a collective aid effort.115 On 28 March, trucks sent by the municipalities of Nablus, Ramallah and al-Bireh

\\Q. Jerusalem Post, 19/3/79, p. 7. 111. Ma'ariv, 16/3/79, p. 5. 112. Jerusalem Post, 3/8119, p. 3. Cf. Section C, p. 112. 113. LeMonde, 1-2/4/79, p. 4. 114. Ha’aretz, 22/3/79, p. 8. 115. ZuHaderech, 28/3/79, p. 16.

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are turned back and the municipal employees driving them are arrested.11 The severe shortage of food is accompanied by grave health problems.

Children are the worst hit, and medical treatment is utterly inadequate because only four doctors are allowed to practice.

Meanwhile, each house-to-house search operation is invariably accompanied by the pillaging of the occupants’ possessions. The searches, conducted in the most brutal fashion, often end with arbitrary arrests. The detainees are usually not released until a fine of IL 5,000 has been paid. One particular measure of collective punishment involves 300 citizens of all ages being taken to the military government HQ in Hebron. A number of them are left out in the yard there for 48 hours without food and without blankets to ward off the biting cold of the night air.

On 17 March, the town offers up its third martyr, a shepherd named Mahmoud Za’arour. Apparently ignorant of the curfew regulations, he goes out to buy fodder for his flocks. The soldiers shoot at him and torture him to death.

The brother of Nasri al-‘Anani is beaten on the arms and legs. A correspondent for Zu Haderech testifies on 6 April that she saw the marks of the beating on the victim.

Throughout the whole period of the total curfew on Halhoul, Mayor Muhammad Milhem is confined to his residence.117

16 March — Restrictions on the funerals of Nasri al-‘Anani and Rabi’a Shalaldeh, Halhoul’s martyrs. The military authorities force the parents of the deceased to bury their children at night and they forbid any funeral gathering to take place for fear that it would turn into a patriotic demonstration. Consequently, only eight members of the al-‘Anani family are authorised to follow the funeral procession, which is surrounded by some 40 soldiers. Meanwhile, a curfew is imposed on Kafr Sa’ir before the arrival of Rabi’a’s coffin in the village, where her family lives. Not one member of her family is allowed to see her body before she is buried. The inhabitants of the village, who come to offer their condolences to the family, are dispersed by soldiers “firing in the air.”118

19-20 March — Sentencing of demonstrators. The military court in Nablus on 19 March sentences Yusef Mahmoud Abu Nafiseh to one year’s imprisonment and to the payment of a IL 10,000 fine for organising demonstrations on the occasion of the ‘Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Prisoner’, which took place on 17 April 1977. Munir al-‘Adwan (17 years old) is ordered to pay a fine of IL 8,000 on the same charge. Hussein Adel al-Darisi (20) is given a six-month suspended prison sentence for “inciting to demonstrate.”

The next day, Nabil Abdel Wahhab al-Khatib and Munir Yahya ‘Azzam are given three-month suspended prison sentences and are ordered to pay

116.Al-Ittihad, 30/3/19, p. 1. 111. Zu Haderech, op. cit.; al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 1. 118. Al-Ittihad, (quoting Zu Haderech), 4/5/79, p. 3.

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fines of IL 3,000 for “inciting to demonstrate” and for distributing pamphlets signed ‘Ashbal Filastin’ (lion cubs of Palestine) in 1977 when they were only 14 years old.11 9

23 March — Sentencing of a trade unionist. The military court in Ramallah sentences Yusef al-Ja‘abeh to three years imprisonment, two of which are suspended, for belonging to the Resistance and for “activities designed to create a general workers’ union.” Felicia Langer issues a protest against the torture to which her client has been subjected during his period of interrogation.12 0

24 March — Desecration of the Aqsa Mosque. Seven settlers violate the sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque and attack a number of young Palestinians on the premises. The Counsel for the defence of the settlers claims before the court, when the case comes up for trial, that “Jews have a right to pray wherever they like in the Old City of Jerusalem.” The police thereupon withdraw their suit. This obliges the court to stop the trial, although it has affirmed that “the evidence that has been produced is insufficient for the court to conclude that the accusations (brought to bear against the settlers) are unfounded.”12 1

End of March — Establishment of a local council at Ma‘aleh Adumim, the first settlement in the territories occupied in 1967 to take over the running of its own public affairs. The council is responsible for administrative, social, cultural and economic affairs. For any transaction involving property — the “municipal land” coming under the control of the new council amounts to 30,000 dunums of “state owned” land - the council has to obtain the prior authorisation of the Military Governor of the West Bank. The same goes for the imposition of taxes.

The 60 families who now live in Ma‘aleh Adumim have requested their local council, made up of five members, to administer the construction of the housing units necessary for 1,200 families who are waiting to move into settlement.122

1 April — Al-Am‘ari Camp sealed up. The Israeli forces seal with concrete five entrances to the al-Am‘ari Camp, near Jerusalem, with the result that the inhabitants can now only use one entrance to go in or out of the camp. Soldiers are permanently on guard at this entrance. No explanation is given for the operation.12 3

2 April — Construction of Hutseh-Shomron highway : Expropriation at al-Ram and Ussatin ; Demolitions in al-Ram area. “Several residents of the al-Ram region receive notification that they must leave their homes within

119. Al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 2. 120. Al-Ittihad, 23/3/79, p. 2. 12L Al-Ittihad, 25/5/79, p. 2. 122. Ha‘aretz, 30/3/79, p. 1. 123. Al-Ittihad, 3/4/79, p. 6, and 6/4/79, p. 1.

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one week.” The demolition of their houses is “necessary” to make way for a main road which is to serve the settlements between Jerusalem and Ramallah.124 This order signifies that the land has been expropriated in the name of “public works.” The owners threatened with eviction send cables of protest to the military authorities demanding that other unspecified land be used so as to avoid the need for the demolition.

On 8 April, army bulldozers come to the area and proceed to raze to the ground the house of Abdel Samih Abdel Rahman Seder. The victim is told to pay for the costs of the operation.12 5

The grouping of Arab professional associations in Jerusalem send a cable of protest to the Minister of Defence denouncing the demolitions being carried out to make way for the road.126 The expropriations at Ussatin, a village to the southwest of Nablus, took place in October. On 7 October, the villagers register a complaint at the Nablus municipality against the military authorities. Without any warning, bulldozers had appeared and engaged in levelling a 30 m. wide swathe of land over a stretch of several kilometres for the construction of a section of road. A military spokesman confirms that the land has been expropriated, and states that the work in progress is part of the Hutseh-Shomron highway project.12 7

4 April — Expropriation at Jenin. The military governor of the region notifies residents of the villages of Jaba’, Meythalun and Jabal Hreich that 750 dunums of their land has been expropriated. He also warns them that they are forbidden to enter these lands under pain of being forced to pay heavy fines. The seizure involves land planted with olive trees.1 2 8

6 April — Work goes ahead at Gush Katif, in the Gaza Strip. This is in line with Sharon’s instructions advocating the “reinforcement of the Katif region” and the creation of a “buffer zone” between Khan Yunis and Rafah in view of the fact that the settlements in the Rafah Heights are to be dismantled according to the stipulations of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty. Two settlements have already been established between Khan Yunis and Rafah, and the work in progress is for the construction of a new civilian settlement and an urban centre,1 2 9

9 April — Restrictions on al-TalEa. The High Court of Justice, sitting in the capacity of the Higher Appeals Court, decides to forbid the distribution of al-Tali‘a in the West Bank. The “al-Taliea case” began on 3 March 1978 when the “plaintiffs : al-Tali‘a and Elias Butros Nasrallah, owner of al-Talia\ requested the Military Governor of the West Bank that their publication, issued in East Jerusalem, be allowed to be distributed in the West Bank.130

124. Al-Ittihad, 6/4/79, p. 1. 125. Al-Ittihad, 10/4/79, p. 6. 126. Al-Fajr, 22/4/79, p. 1. 127. Davar and Ha'aretz, 8/10/79, p. 1. 128. Al-Ittihad, '6/4/79, p. 1 (quoting al-Sha‘ab). 129. Ha‘aretz, 6/4/79, p. 1. 130. It should be noted that by virtue of articles 1 and 2 of Decree No. 50 issued on 11 July 1967 the importation and distribution of newspapers in the West Bank requires the prior authorisation of* the military authorities.

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The High Court’s decision comes as a confirmation of the measures taken against al-Tali'a on 18 August 1978 by the West Bank military government. The court bases its decision on a report drawn up by the officer in charge of the department of the Interior, which lists a number of accusations against the publication, namely that it is close to the Palestinian National Front in the Occupied Territories, that, “in the same manner as other publications, in particular al-Fajr,” it has adopted “an extremist political line” advocating the establishment of a Palestinian state and supporting the Palestine Liberation Organization, and that it writes against the military authorities and “directly or indirectly — reading between the lines — it calls for “struggle against the occupation.”131

9 April — Construction work at Sheikh Radwan, in the Gaza Strip. Work on this site is part of the Israeli plan forcibly to displace the population of the Palestinian refugee camps. At present, 700 housing units are in the process of being constructed over an area of 700 dunums in the Sheikh Radwan region.132

10 April — Cultural Repression. 25 book titles have been forbidden to be sold in the West Bank.133

10 April — Establishment of Beit El B. The Ministerial Settlement Committee decides to “divide” Beit El up into two settlements : Beit El A and Beit El B.1 34

11 April — Expropriation at ‘Asira al-Shamaliya, north of Nablus and separated from the town by a mountain — Jebel ‘Aybal. A spokesman for the military government announces the expropriation of 900 dunums of land belonging to the village and lying on Jebal ‘Aybal. He alleges that the expropriation has been carried out for “purely military reasons.”13 5 The inhabitants of the village immediately send a cable of protest to the minister of Defence demanding that the expropriation order be annulled and pointing out that the measure is in violation of international conventions.13 6

On 21 April, the Mukhtar of the village receives notification that 300 dunums of the area expropriated — some 1,000 dunums — has been fenced off. Work begins on this land without delay. Olive trees and vines are tom up by the roots and a road is cleared.13 7

In a petition presented on 13 November to the High Court of Justice, by way of Attorneys Felicia Langer and Abed Assaly, the ten owners of the fenced-off land affirm that since the middle of July they have been barred access to their land. They express their conviction that the levelling work in

m. Al-Tali'a, No 65, 31/5/79, p. 8. 132. Al-Fajr, 9/4/79. 133. Ha’aretz, 10/4/79, p. 3. 134. Davar, 11/4/79, p. 3. 135. Jerusalem Post, 13/4/79, p. 2. 136. Ablttihad, 13/4/79, p. 8. 137. Al-Ittihad, 16/11/79, p. 8, and 18/12/79, p. 1.

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progress is designed for the establishment of a settlement. They note that the “closed-off land is part of a total area of 995 dunums of land on which they grow wheat and barley and tend olive groves and vineyards.” They further maintain that the expropriation, besides depriving 100 families of the source of their livelihood, is illegal in the light of the Hague and Geneva Conventions. They finally call on the court to issue a temporary injunction against the Minister of Defence requiring him to “show cause why he should not cancel the order to close off 300 dunums” of land belonging to the petitioners and situated on Jebal ‘Aybal.13 8

In December, more land is expropriated on Jebal ‘Aybal.139

13 April — The Case of Haza’ Suleiman Haza’, aged 56. Sentenced on 24 December 1978 to five years’ imprisonment, half of which is suspended, as a punishment for his political activities, Haza’ is now suffering from a heart condition and diabetes. Three months previously, Attorney Walid Fahoum presented a request for an amnesty for the prisoner, but no response has been forthcoming.14 0

15 April — Sentencing of adolescents. The military court in Nablus sentences five adolescents from Tel al-Za’tar (Balata) camp to nine years imprisonment, none of which is suspended. They are : Khaled ’Abdel Latif Suweylam (aged 16), ’Adel Subhi Hantash(16), Bassam ’Issa Dantati(16), Khaled ‘Abdallah Habash (15), and Ibrahim Mahmoud Da’ouss Faraj (15).141

16 April — Nuclei formed for ten settlements. At a ceremony held at Neveh Tsuf settlement, near Ramallah, the Gush Emunim announces the formation of ten settlement nuclei, each one made up of several dozen families. These nuclei are slated to move into the following settlements : Yatir ; Ziv (south of Mt. Hebron) ; Ma’aleh Adumim Bet ; Rama (northwest of Jerusalem) ; Lebonah (in the Ramallah area, for workers in the aeronautical industry) ; Sufin, Haramata ; Elon Moreh (in the Nablus region) ; and Tirza.14 2

16 April — The case of Isma’il Ajwa. The former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem daily al-Sha ’ab is released from prison on 16 April following four months arbitrary detention. In an interview with The Guardian,14 3 he relates the circumstances of his arrest and the systematic torture to which he was subjected. The interview takes place in the Muslim Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jeursalem where Ajwa was admitted on 24 April, shortly after his release from al-Moscobiyeh prison, to receive treatment for injuries

138. Al-Ittihad, 16/11/79, p. 8. m.Al-Tali’a, No. . 94, 20/12/79, p. 1. 140. Al-Ittihad, 13/4/79, p. 2. Ml. Al-Ittihad, 20/4/79, p. 3. 142. Jerusalem Post and Davar, 11/4/19, p. 2. According to Ha'aretz (5/4/79, p. 1), the settlement of Lebonah will be situated not far from Rantis village, and Haramata will be established between the settlements of El-Kana and Ariel (Hares). Ha’aretz also reports that the settlement of Mitspeh Lucfier (south of Mt. Hebron) is to receive the Yatir nucleus. 143. The Guardian, 3/5/79, p. 15.

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to his head, feet and legs, back pains and a severe stomach upset. He can only walk with the help of a stick and he has a continuous headache.14 4 He says that at one o’clock in the morning on 15 December 1978 his house was invaded by troops. “About 30 soldiers came to my house... took many books and a mask of Yasser Arafat which I had bought in a shop for my child.” He was then taken to cell No. 10 in al-Moscobiyeh prison where he underwent 18 consecutive days of interrogation and torture. One of his interrogators, who called himself Uzi, severely beat him while interrogating him on his supposed relations with the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the West Bank Mayors. Ajwa replied that he had no connections with the PLO. “As a Palestinian, my representative is the PLO, but this does not mean that I have a connection with the PLO.” Uzi punched him repeatedly on his head and chest, and choked him until his tongue came out of his mouth. He hit him numerous times on his legs with a stick, all the time shouting the name of a book Ajwa had written in 1976, entitled “The Revolution Will Not Die.” Uzi threatened to kill him if he did not “admit” that he worked for the PLO.

After 18 days of systematic torture, Ajwa was taken out of the investigation offices and handcuffed to a water pipe, to be left standing there for 72 hours. “The chains were on both my hands to prevent me sitting down.” Ajwa was then interrogated, but without being beaten, by another officer who called himself Abu Nihad. Throughout the 93 days of his detention he had to sleep on the floor in the biting winter cold without sufficient blankets. Kept in solitary confinement he was not even allowed to go to the toilet — a hole in the floor sufficed for that. For 87 days of his detention, the prison administration refused to accede to any of his requests that the International Red Cross be allowed to come and visit him. He was not given any ijiedical treatment and did not receive one visit from a doctor.145

On 24 September, the report of Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir to the government is published. It states that .Ajwa was placed under “administrative detention” on suspicion of working for the Palestinian Resistance. The report alleges that Ajwa was not subjected to “systematic torture,” but was “slapped” on one proven occasion by an interrogator of the Shin Beth (General Security Services). “It would appear,” the report goes on, “that the interrogator struck Ajwa’s hand a number of times.” The report adds that “even when Ajwa was tied to a pipe or left with his head masked, this was only for an hour at a time.” Ajwa’s conditions of detention were “reasonable,” the report says, and he received 30 visits — “more than the customary number.” As for the deterioration in Ajwa’s health during his detention, “there are no grounds for saying that the conditions and manner of his interrogation caused injury or any significant aggravation to the state of his health, which was impaired even before the detention,” the report alleges. The report finally claims that Ajwa “was not denied any necessary medical treatment... All his requests on this score were met.”146

144.International Herald Tribune, 1/5/79, p. 3. 145. The Guardian, op. cit. 146. Jerusalem Post, 25/9/79, p. 2.

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The Attorney General’s report is in absolute contradiction with the testimony Ajwa gave to a correspondent for Ha’aretz after having agreed to undergo a lie-detection test. The results of the interview and the test, published on 27 April, corroborate the fact that Aiwa was systematically tortured.

Ajwa’s torturer was given “a reprimand,” and it was decided to transfer him to another post after a disciplinary court had found him guilty of “maltreating” the Palestinian journalist.14 7

17 April — Excavations in Jerusalem, for the laying of sewage pipes. The digging, undertaken by Teddy Kollek’s municipality, causes cracks to appear in the structures of a number of houses near the ‘Damascus Gate’ in East Jerusalem. The municipality has taken no action to remedy the situation, which has reached the extent that if the cracks get any bigger, the residents will have no option but to leave their houses. The works, which began two months previously, are still going on. The residents demand that their houses be repaired.148

17 April — Settlement of Ariel/Hares: Expropriation at Salfit!4 9Maradah, Iskakeh and Farkha, in the Nablus area. On 17 April, the military governor of Tulkarm summons the Mayor of Salfit and the Mukhtars of the villages of Maradah, Iskakeh and Farkha to notify them of 'a decree ordering the expropriation of some 3,000 dunums of land.150 (The actual area expropriated when the order comes into force in June is 3,500 dunums). 151 The Military Governor of the West Bank, Benyamin Ben-Eliezer, tells a correspondent for Ha’aretz that the expropriation order was ratified by the government to allow for the expansion of the settlement of Ariel/Hares. The daily reports that the “land to be expropriated is mainly privately owned.”152 The fact that the Israeli authorities plan to make Ariel a town of 50,000 settlers,153 while there are now only 1,000154 living there and the settlement covers only 2,500 dunums,155 presages new and more substantial expropriations.

In mid-July, the landowners in Salfit affirm that the area expropriated is not 3,500, but 20,000 dunums of land which moreover is under cultivation and vital for the village’s subsistence.156 Their statement contains an irrefutable denial of the declarations made by “highly placed sources,” which had alleged that the land involved was “rocky and uncultivated,” and was divided between “land not recorded in the Register” and “land registered in the tax records.”15 7

147. Washington Post, 27/9/79, p. 6. 148. Al-Fajr, 17/4/19 ; Cf. Section A, p. 10 and p. 26. 149. Salfit is situated about 26 km southeast of Nablus. Its land borders on that of Iskakeh, Maradeh, Farkha, Harez, Al-lubn al-Sharq, ‘Amouriyeh and Khirbet Qais. 150. Ha’aretz, 19/4/79,p. 1 ;al-Ittihad, 20/4/79,p. 1. 151. Ha’aretz, 5/7/79, p. 1 ;al-Ittihad, 6/7/79, p. 8 ; Jerusalem Post, 5/7/79, p. 2. 152. Ha’aretz, 19/4/79, p. 1. - 153. Yediot Aharanot, 14/2/79, p. 2. 154. Davar, 3/9/79, p. 1. 155. Ha’aretz, 7/8/79. 156. Al-Tali’a, No. 71,12/7/79, p. 1; al-Ittihad, 17/7/79, p. 2. 157. Ha’aretz, 5/7/79, p. 1 -al-Ittihad, 6/7/79,p. 8.

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At the beginning of September, the Mukhtar of the village of Iskaka, near Tulkarm, is notified of the expropriation of 3,500 dunums of land belonging to the village. This land is annexed to the settlement of Ariel.15 8

19 April — Establishment of the Shomron Regional Council, consisting of six new settlements in the north of the West Bank : Ariel, El Kana, Dotan (Sanour), Kadumim, Kamei Shomron, Shevi-Shomron and Tepuah.159 Interior Minister Yosef Burg declares at the Council’s inauguration ceremony at Kadumim that his Ministry will be responsible for the Council, in the same way that it is responsible for other councils. Burg announces that regional councils are shortly to be established at Gush Etzion and Beit El.160

23 April — Vandalism. Kiryat Arba’ settlers cut down 500 vines belonging to Hebron citizens and located in the Jebal al-Ras and ‘Ar al-Shayeb areas. Mayor Fahd Qawasmeh sends a letter of protest to Begin and Weizman denouncing this act of vandalism. 161 In May, the authorities forbid the owners of the vines to enter their land without prior authorisation.162

24 April — Water problems in Nablus. The military governor of Nablus notifies Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a that the municipality is forbidden to go ahead with its plan to sink an artesian well in the Deir Sharaf region.163 This ban, coupled with the decision taken by the Israeli government on 18 February to allow settlements in the West Bank to draw water from local wells, creates acute water problems in Nablus and the outlying area. The municipality refuses to provide water to the settlement of Elon Moreh, noting that its opposition in principle to colonisation would in itself justify such a refusal.164

26 April — Colonisation in Hebron : Occupation of the al-Dibwiyeh Building, in the centre of town. The occupation of the al-Dibwiyeh Building is carried out by Gush Emunim settlers from Kiryat Arba’. About sixty of them move in on 26 April and are later joined by more settlers. The government proceeds to take all the decisions necessary to consecrate the effective occupation of the building. First, at the end of May, the government authorises the settlers “to be joined by members of their families,” then on 3 June they are allowed to receive “family visits,” and finally, on 22 June, they are authorised to “come and go freely” to and from the building. These decisions are taken after the government notifies the Defence Ministry that nothing should be done to evict the settlers. It is in any case unlikely that the army would evict the settlers, as the army itself assisted in the occupation of the building in the first place. It was also the

158. Al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 3. 159. Yediot Aharonot, 20/4/79 ; Jerusalem Post, 22/4/79 p 2 160. Hatsofeh, 20/4/79, p. 2. 161. Al-Ittihad, 1/5/79, p. 3 \Ha’aretz, 27/4/79, p. 1. 162. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 8. 163. Al-Ittihad, 24/4/79, p. 2. 164. Al-Tali’a, No. 71, 12/7/79, p. 8.

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army which provided the settlers with water and electricity, and supplied them with necessary provisions before the settlers were authorised to “come and go freely.”16 5

When on 12 August, speaking at a public meeting, the Speaker of the Knesset exclaims in the presence of Burg that, “the town of Hebron is returned to Eretz Yisrael — this town of our forefathers will be safeguarded for our children and our grandchildren,”16 6 he is in effect acting as a spokesman for the government. In August, the government proposes to establish a “Rabbinical school” in the al-Dibwiyeh Building, in order to consecrate a new “fait accompli.”167 This proposal gives the green light for work to start in the building. “On 26 September, with government authorisation, and under the protection of a large body of troops, dozens of new settlers from Kiryat Arba’begin ‘renovation works’ on the building in order ‘to make it fit for human habitation.”16 8

The occupation of the al-Dibwiyeh Building, under the pretext that more than fifty years before it belonged to the Jewish community in Hebron, represents the first landmark on the way to complete colonisation of the town. The Israeli press announces in July that a number of rooms in other buildings in the town have been ‘renovated’ under the auspices of the Defence and Religious Affairs Ministries. Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Kiryat Arba’ declares that these rooms can be the “first apartments” for the future settlers of the Jewish quarter to be built in the centre of Hebron.169 Israeli radio announces in September that more Arab buildings are shortly to be occupied in Hebron in the same way as the al-Dibwiyeh Building.17 0

The implantation of settlers in the very centre of Hebron would, if necessary, be effected by force of arms. The series of aggressions and provocations by the Gush Emunim settlers against the people of Hebron is, in this sense, significant, as indeed is the concomitant series of annexationist declarations. Some examples :

Armed parade on 3 May during a mass march organised by the Gush Emunim to militate for accelerating moves towards colonisation in the very heart of Palestinian towns. Several hundred armed settlers gather before the al-Dibwiyeh Building shooting in the air, before moving on to the Jebal al-Ras and Wa’er al-Shayeb regions where, on 23 April, Kiryat Arba’ settlers cut down 500 vines.1 71

Attack on a clinic and a private house on 19 May. 200 Kiryat Arba settlers head for the al-Dibwiyeh Building to stage a demonstration. Meanwhile, several dozen other settlers attack a clinic and a private house in Hebron. However, the local staff and residents put up a stern resistance and the settlers are forced to withdraw.17 2

Series of aggressions on 27 May. Armed settlers from Kiryat Arba’ attack

165. Ha’aretz, 27/4/79, p. 1 and 30/5/79, p. 1; al-Ittihad, 3/6/79, p. 6: the Guardian, 2/7/79, p. 4. 166. Al-Tali’a, No. 80, 13/9/79, p. 2. 167. Al-Ittihad, 14/8/79, p. 1. 168. Al-Ittihad, 28/9/79, p. 8. 16?. Ha’aretz, 18/7/79, p. 9. lit). Al-Ittihad, 28/9/79, p. 8. 111. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 8. 172. Al-Ittihad, 22/5/79, p. 6 ; Jerusalem Post, 20/5/79, p. 2.

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four houses in the town of Hebron, clubbing the occupants with their pistols and rifle-butts, ransacking the furniture, and smashing radio and television sets and other objects of value, all the while shouting “Get out... these are Jewish houses.”173 Armed settlers also attack the clinic of Dr. Hammad Fawzi Karaki, where they tear pictures off the wall, shouting at Nurse Hadera Ahmad Hassani who is treating a patient : “This is our house ! Get out ! ” The settlers continue on their rampage through the town, throwing stones as they go.174

March led by Knesset Member Geula Cohen. On the same day (27 May) as the above attacks, some 500 settlers, mostly Gush Emunim, march through the streets of Hebron for several hours, under the protection of troops. They end up rallying in front of the al-Dibwiyeh Building.17 5

On 12 June, during a rally organised near the occupied building, the Gush Emunim reiterate their claim concerning the “right of Jews to settle in the heart of Hebron, Nablus and Gaza,” and in particular call for the construction of a “Jewish quarter in the centre of Hebron.”17 6

On 3D July, the Gush Emunim announce that they have begun “collecting funds for the construction of a Jewish quarter in the heart of Hebron.”177

The manner in which the attacks are treated is revealing in itself. On 3 June, the police arrest “six suspects” from Kiryat Arba’. They belong to the group of Rabbi Mair Kahane, who wants to expel every Palestinian living in the “Land of Israel.”178 However, the police neglect to arrest the seventh member of the band, considered the brains behind the attack on the houses and the destruction of the vines.179 On 2 September, the High Court of Justice reduces the sentence of one of the settlers, Avigdor Arskim of Kiryat Arba’, from seven months to 100 days. He was originally sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court for attacking the house of the ‘Issa family. The High Court, however, decides to take into consideration Avigdor’s “glorious Zionist past”, while noting that “his motives were pure” even if his acts “were reprehensible.” Avigdor had declared to the Court that he wished to draw its attention to the fact that the house of the ‘Issa family had been “Jewish property.”18 0

1 May — Sentencing of detainees. The military court in Jenin sentences ‘Imad Sawalameh, Hamza Samadi and ‘Azem Zakarina from the village of Qabatya to three years imprisonment, two of which are suspended. They are charged with participating in demonstrations, distributing anti-occupation propaganda, and brandishing a Palestinian flag and photographs of fellow villagers killed in the course of struggling against the occupation. They tell their lawyer, Felicia Langer, that they were tortured with the objective of making them sign a “written confession” of their alleged belonging to the Resistance.

173. Al-Ittihad, 29/5/79, p. 6 : Washington Post. 1/6/79, p. 1. 174. Washington Post, op. cit. \15. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 176. Yediot Aharanot, 7/5/79, p. 7 \Ha’aretz, 14/6/79, p. 3. 171.Ha tsofeh and Haaretz, 31/7/79, p. 1. 178. Le Monde, 5/6/79, p. 1. 179. Al-Ittihad, 5/6/79, p. 6. 180. Jerusalem Post, 3/9/79, p. 3.

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The Jenin military court at the same time sentences the adolescents Walid and Nasser Kamil to two years in prison, six months effective for the former, and seven months effective for the latter. They are charged with participating in demonstrations.1 8 1

3 May-4 July — Closure of Bir Zeit University. This decision is designed to prevent the students from giving vent to their anger in light of the previous day’s events. On May 2, settlers from Neveh Tsuf participating in an “armed march” organised by the Gush Emunim had shot at the students, who were demonstrating against the march. One student, Riad Nakhleh Daoud from Beit Sahour, was seriously injured.182 The military government decrees the indefinite closure of the University.1 8 3 Their decision perfectly meets the demands of the settlers. Not content with committing their criminal acts, the settlers went on to demand that the University be closed down and the staff deported.184 University Vice-President Gabi al-Baramki is notified that Bir Zeit will remain closed until it can “guarantee that its students will cause no further trouble.”185 No action is taken against those responsible for the shooting, and a military spokesman goes so far as to “deny” that Professor Bar-Zohar fired the shot which killed the student Riad Daoud.186 This community of view explains why the Gush Emunim feel they can get away with declarations such as one they make on 8 May at a press conference organised by the Council of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A spokesman for the movement announces that the settlers involved in the shooting incident at Bir Zeit will not co-operate with the inquiries being conducted by the police. He adds that the settlers had received instructions to fire in the air if stones are thrown at them. “In grave danger, they may shoot at the attackers’ legs.” He also reveals that the government has issued them arms and is supplying ammunition.1 87

The reasons for the three-months closure of Bir Zeit University are cited on numerous occasions. On 22 May “a highly-placed official” in the military government, on being questioned on the measures being taken against the University and the woman teachers’ training institute in Ramallah, declares that it is “quite inconceivable” that these institutions be allowed to function as long as they fail to “behave in a civilised manner,” and while they persist in waging their struggle against the occupation.18 8 On 24 May, General Dany Matt, Army Co-ordinator of Operations in the Occupied Territories, answering questions at a press conference, after having confirmed that the University will remain closed until further notice, lists the “grievances” the occupation authorities have against the Palestinian institution. He states that the University has been closed “following an accumulation of disturbances organised by the students with the backing of the teaching staff and the

181. Al-Ittihad, 1/5/79, p. 2. 182. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 1. Cf. Section C p. 117. 183. Le Monde, 4/5/79, p. 4. 184. Jerusalem Post, 4/5/79, p. 4. 185. The Economist, 9/6/79, p. 77. 186. Le Monde, 5/7/79, p. 6. 187. Jerusalem Post, 9/5/79, p. 3. 188. Jerusalem Post, 5/7/79, p. 6.

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administration. In the last few years, the University has become a hotbed of political activity, which expresses itself in the incitement of students throughout the West Bank, the organisation of demonstrations, the publication of communiques, not to mention the throwing of stones and the attacks launched against Israeli vehicles. The activities intensified particularly following Sadat’s visit, despite the warnings issued by the military government.”189

On 4 June, in response to a motion tabled in the Knesset by deputy Tewfiq Zayyad, the Minister of Defence reiterates that the closure of Bir Zeit stems from the occupation authorities’ determination to wipe out one of the “hothouses” of the Palestinian national struggle.190

The eventual reopening of Bir Zeit is preceded by a wide-ranging movement of protest, which goes on despite the authorities’ attempts to stifle it. On 14 May, the military authorities forbid students at the university from organising a press conference. Gaby Baramki denounces the attacks on academic freedoms and accuses the occupation authorities of excessive harassment of students at Bir Zeit and other universities in the West Bank. He affirms that the Gush Emunim bear full responsibility for the shooting incidents on 2 May, adding that keeping the University closed has “gone beyond punishment and become an act of vindictiveness and revenge.”191 On 24 May, students and faculty members at the University hold a press conference in which they condemn the closure as “an unjust and vicious act.”192 On 29 May, the Bir Zeit administration addresses an open letter to Weizman attacking the decision taken by the military government on 24 May to prolong the closure of the University, a measure which they term as “collective punishment.” The letter notes that Bir Zeit is “the oldest institution of higher education” in the West Bank, and that it had succeeded in maintaining a high standard of scholarship, which has earned it a widespread reputation.”19 3

The University remains closed until 4 July.194

4 May - Administrative detention of Hassan ‘Abdel Jawad, president of the Students’ Union at Bethlehem University. He is placed under administrative detention for one month, no charge being brought against him.19 5

8 May — Establishment of settlement nucleus, in the Gaza Strip. A group of settlers, made up of ten families and two unattached individuals, move into Kfar Darom, near Khan Yunis, with a view to forming the nucleus for a new settlement in the region scheduled to be completed in a year and a half s time.196

189. AhHamishmar, 25/5/79, p. 3. 190. Jerusalem Post, 5/6/79, p. 3. 191. Jerusalem Post, 15/5/79, p. 3 \Ha’aretz, 15/5/79, p. 1. 192. The Guardian, 25/5/79, p. 6. 193. Jerusalem Post, 30/5/79, p. 3. 194. Jerusalem Post, 4/7/79, p. 1. 195. Jerusalem Post, 4/5/79, pp. 1 and 2. 196. Jerusalem Post, 10/5/79, p. 2.

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9 May — Establishment of the Katif regional council, made up of representatives from five settlements in the Gaza Strip (Netzer Hazani, Gani Tal, Kfar Darom, Morag and Katif) and a representative of the Israeli government.1 9 7

10 May — Vandalism at Bardala village, near Tubas. “Unidentified” saboteurs attack the village’s pumping station. The pumps provide for the irrigation of 15,000 dunums of farmland on which over 100 families depend for their livelihood. The attack causes 20,000 dinars’ worth of material damage.198

10 May — Damage to agriculture in Jiftlik, in the Jordan Valley. Wide trenches have been dug around several fields, rendering impossible the irrigation of 5,000 dunums of land. A number of farmers in the region send a joint cable of protest to the Minister of Defence.1 9 9

mid-May — Administrative detention of Tzzeddin al-6Aryan, a pharmacist in Ramallah and joint owner of the Tbn Rushd’ publishing house in Jerusalem. Arrested two months ago, he has still not been released, although no charges have been brought against him.200

21 May — Confiscation of documents, destined for the United Nations. Israeli soldiers on duty on the Allenby Bridge confiscate documents on the person of East Jerusalem teacher ‘Ali Kurdiyeh. The documents were to be submitted to the UN Special Commission to Investigate Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories.2 01

28 May — Arrest of twelve Palestinian girls, (one from Jerusalem, two from Ramallah, and the rest from Nablus), suspected of being members of the Resistance.2 02

29 May — Establishment of the regional council of Mateh Benjamin, made up of eight settlements in the northern sector of the West Bank : Beit El A and B, Beit Horon, Giv’on, Mevo Horon, Neveh Tsuf, ‘Ofra and Shilo.2 0 3

30 May — Sentencing of 14 adolescents from Qalandiya. The military court in Ramallah sentences Nasser Tyad, ‘Abdel Karim Shehadeh, Hassan Fayez ‘Amtir and As’ad Shehadeh to four years and nine months in prison, three years of which are suspended. Jamal Rashid Nasser, Jamal Abu Latifeh and ‘Abdel Ya‘qoub are sentenced to three years and three months, two of which are suspended. ‘Omar Sajadiyeh is sentenced to 107 days in prison

197.Ma'ariv, 10/5/79, p. 4. 19S. Al-TalVa. No. 62, 10/5/79, p. 9. 199. Idem. 200. Al-Ittihad, 15/5/79, p. 12. 201. Yediot Aharonot, 21/5/79. 202. Al-Ittihad, 1/6/79, p. 1. 203. Ha'aretz, 30/5/79, p. 10.

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(equivalent to the period he spent in detention awaiting trial). Hani Hamdan is sentenced to two years and seven months, two years of which are suspended. Mahmoud Abu Salem is sentenced to six years, half of which is suspended. In a previous session, the court sentenced Nabil Abu Diyeh to two years imprisonment, Mahmoud As‘ad Amtir to seven months, and Jamal ‘Amar to six months, four of which are suspended. The judge rejected a request made by the lawyers for the defence that the case be submitted to a Jerusalem juvenile'court.2 0 4

3 June — Establishment of Elon Moreh : Expropriation at Rujib, ‘Urta and Deir al-Hatab villages near Nablus. The decision to establish Elon Moreh was taken on 7 January by the ministerial defence committee as a means to put an end to Gush Emunim demonstrations in support of their demands to create a “Jewish Nablus” near the existing Palestinian town. On 3 June, the government approves the establishment of this urban settlement and decides to seize 800 dunums of private land in Rujib. In fact, 1,100 dunums of land are expropriated to make way for the establishment of Elon Moreh. 300 dunums of this land belongs to 22 villagers from ‘Urta, to the south of Rujib, and another 800 dunums to numerous residents of Rujib, located 4 km. south of Nablus.

On 7 June the settlement of Elon Moreh is founded, with helicopters landing heavy equipment on Rujib Hill, 1 1/2 km. south of Nablus. Within hours 20 tents have been put up, while in the meantime bulldozers cleave an access road. Sharon himself arrives on site, stressing that the establishment of Elon Moreh “at this critical phase” proves the government’s determination to forge ahead with settlement.2 0 5

On 14 June, 17 farmers from Rujib, owning 125 dunums between them of the area seized, take their case to court. The High Court on 20 June orders work on the Rujib site suspended. On 22 October, the Court rules that as the settlement of Elon Moreh does not answer the imperatives of security, but rather responds to political motivations, the site must be evacuated. The High Court decision only bears on the 800 dunums of land whose expropriation had been decided on by the government, and ignores the 300 dunums seized at ‘Urta.206 Nevertheless, the government announces on 18 November that the evacuation of the settlement site will be effected in two stages : By 22 November (the date the court stipulated that the evacuation should be completed), only the 125 dunums belonging to the 17

204. Al-Ittihad, 15/6/79, p. 2.

205. Davar, 1/1/79, p. 1 ; International Herald Tribune, 2/1/79, p. 1 ; Jerusalem Post 911/19 p 2 and 4/3/79, p. 1 ;Ha‘aretz, 4/6/79, p. 1, 8/6/79, p. 1, and 13/6/79, p. 2 \Le Monde, 5/6/79, p. 4.

21,6m p-17; *■6 * This decision does not seem to be entirely foreign to the Defence Minister’s preference for “state

land” (Cf. Section a, p. 27). Indeed, if we note the Beit El and Tubas land case, in which the High Court ruled, in the face of all the evidence, that the civilian settlement of Beit El was necessary “to Israel’s defence system,” there is no way we can conclude that the Court’s decision on the Elon Moreh case sets a precedent. Moreover, the legal adviser to the government, Yitzhak Zamir, was quick to stress that this decision in no way signified that it would be impossible in the future to create settlements on private land in the West Bank. {Davar, 2*0/11/79, p. 2).

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plaintiffs would be evacuated ; the settlers would pull out of the rest of the area in six weeks time. On 30 December, the Gush Emunim settlers are given another five weeks grace.2 0 7

This series of decisions is accompanied by another decision to transfer Elon Moreh to the land of the village of Deir al-Hatab on a site called Jebal al-Kabir. On 9 December, the government issues a writ ordering work to begin at once on the alternative site for the settlement. The government claims that Elon Moreh will be built “without any private land being requisitioned and without infringing on any private property,2 0 8 In fact the work commences on land used as grazing pastures for the flocks belonging to the villagers. Furthermore, the work undertaken to widen the road through the village in order to allow heavy equipment for the settlement to get through damages the village cemetery.20®

On 24 December, army helicopters begin to airlift in construction materials for the settlement. The infrastructure for the settlement and the building of the first 30 housing units will cost IL 50 million.21 0 Elon Moreh is slated to house 1,000 settlers in the first phase.211

3 June — Expropriation at Khan al-Ahmar. Residents of Silwan, southwest of Jerusalem, affirm that more than 25,000 acres of cultivated land belonging to them has been seized in the Khan al-Ahmar region, between Jerusalem, Jericho and the Dead Sea. They stress that they depend on this land for their livelihood, and without it the economy of their village would be devastated.212

4 June — One house demolished, four more sealed up in Ramallah and al-Bireh. The operation is carried out in a lightning raid in which several hundred soldiers take part. An army unit of 200 troops, accompanied by bulldozers and tractors, arrives at the crack of dawn in the village of al-Janiyeh, near Ramallah. The bulldozers proceed to raze ‘Ataf Ahmad Yusefs house to the ground. A 22-year-old teacher, she was arrested on 27 May while planting an explosive charge in Jerusalem.21 3

The military authorities go on to ban a press conference to be held by Mayors Karim Khalaf of Ramallah and Ibrahim al-Tawil of al-Bireh on June 4 to denounce this collective punishment — a reprisal measure authorised by the 1945 Emergency Laws inherited from the British Mandate.

Prevented from meeting in front of the house which had been sealed in al-Bireh, the mayors go to the town’s municipality. Karim Khalaf only has time to utter a few words to the assembled journalists before he is summoned to the Military Governor’s office.

Measures are taken against the mayors for organising this press conference.

207. Ha'aretz, 19/11/79, p. 1 ; The Econonist, 24/11/79, p. 78 ; The Guardian, 31/12/79, p. 6. 208. Jerusalem Post, 10/12/79, p. 1. 209. Jerusalem Post, 11/12/79, p. 1. 210. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 6. 211 Jerusalem Post, 8/6/79, p. 1. 212. International Herald Tribune, 4/6/79, p. 1. 213. Le Monde, 6/6/79, p. 5 ; The Guardian, 5/6/79, p. 6 \al~Ittihad, 5/6/79, p. 1.

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On 6 June they are notified of a travel ban against them, and of the possibility of further action being taken against them.214

In a second such operation, “well before dawn... several hundred Israeli troops surrounded a... three storey stone house in the centre of al-Bireh (belonging to the al-Khayyat family). By sunrise, the ground floor flat was no longer fit for human habitation. During the night, the soldiers sealed up its windows, welded doors into place and ripped up the floors. The movable possessions of the al-Khayyat family were thrown into the garden.” The reason for this collective punishment is that one member of the family, Nadia al-Khayyat (21, a teacher in a village in the region), was arrested at the end of May.21 5 The family says that before the operation, an order signed by Ezer Weizman is read out. Nadia’s brother affirms that the demolition “will strengthen our attachment to the Palestinian cause.”21 6 Two houses in al-Bireh are sealed up on account of their having “received” visits from Kamal Ahmad Yassin Zeid (24), a Bir Zeit student suspected of having participated in a number of military operations, and who is being sought by the authorities. The fourth house to be sealed up is in Ramallah and belongs to Hanan Elias Masih (21) a teacher in the village of Deor al-Teen, She is suspected of having transported explosive charges. 17

None of these people have yet been brought to trial. The collective punishment is authorised by the 1945 Emergency Laws inherited from the British Mandate.218 The military spokesman stresses that the sealing-up operations and the demolition are “not related to any future sentence.” [See footnote No. 216]

6 June — Measures taken against a political prisoner serving a life sentence in al-Ramleh prison. When he refuses to end a hunger strike, the prison authorities give the order for tear gas to be fired at him and that he be put in solitary confinement. The prisoner subsequently appeals to the High Court of Justice, but the Court decides that his “petition is unjustified.” The Governor of the prison admits that tear gas was used, but alleges that it was in order to “calm down the prisoner.”21 9

7 June — Curfew on Surda village, north of Ramallah, near Bir Zeit. The curfew is imposed by a large force of Israeli troops who enter the village at four o’clock in the morning. The reason given for the measure is to round up a number of students from Bir Zeit University. All males in the village, including boys aged twelve or less are assembled in the main square and left there from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00p.m. during which time they are harshly interrogated by the soldiers. The questions revolve around their attitude to “administrative autonomy.” In the meantime the troops carry out a house-to-house search. Eight young people are arrested and taken off to

214. Ha’aretz, 7/6/79, p. 3. 215. New Statesman, 29/6/79, p. 949. 216. Jerusalem Post, 5/6/79, p. 3. 217. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 218. New Statesman, op. cit. 219. Ha’aretz, 6/6/19, p.

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Ramleh prison. Felicia Langer’s request to visit them is turned down.22 0 Four of them, all Bir Zeit students, stay in jail. They are Hisham

Mahmoud ‘Abdallah As’ad, Zuhair Mahmoud Ibrahim, ‘Aqab ‘Abdel Qader ‘Abdel Samad, and Muhammad ‘Abdallah al-Bazzaz. On 17 June, the military court in Ramallah rejects a demand for the students’ release made by Felicia Langer. The reason given for the refusal is that the four students are suspected of having had contacts with one Kamal Hassan, a student from Jalazoun Camp who is being sought by the authorities. He is suspected of having committed “subversive acts” and being the leader of the “cell” of which the recently-arrested women from the Ramallah area are charged with being members.

Felicia Langer is told that her clients will not be released until Kamal Hassan is arrested.2 2 1 In August, it is reported in the press that they are still in jail.222

11 June — House sealed up in Jalama village, near Jenin. The owner of the house, As’ad Tewfiq Sha’ban, is “suspected of having carried out an operation” for the Palestinian Resistance. 2 3

15 June — Sentencing of an adolescent. The military court in Nablus sentences Hatem Muhammad Ahmad Khawaja, aged 15, to three years imprisonment, of which two are suspended on charges of belonging to the Palestinian Resistance.2 2 4

15 June — Sentencing of political detainees. The military court in Lydd sentences Muhammad ‘Anar ‘Athnan Jaber (aged 26) to 25 years imprisonment, ‘Abdallah Khodr Abu Taleb (25) to 18 years, Mahmoud Muhammad Sha’ban Khoweyd (26) to ten years, Viola Victor Sa’ati (an 18-year-old girl from Ramallah) to 12 years, Ahmad ‘Abdel Rahim Safi (18) to ten years, and Shehadeh Ibrahim Jaber (33) to eight years.224

17 June — Establishment of the regional council of Gush Etzion, made up of seven settlements.2 2 5

18 June — Establishment of Karnei Shomron B : Expropriation at ‘Azzoun, east of Qalqilya. Ground-levelling work for this new Gush Emunim settlement is begun by the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency after Palestinian landowners in the village of ‘Azzoun receive an order for the seizure of their land for the construction of an access road to the settlement.2 2 6 The expropriated land has olive trees growing on it. In the face of clear evidence to the contrary, Uri Bar On, government co-ordinator for settlement activities in the West Bank, claims that the new settlement

220. Al-Ittihad, 12/6/79, p. 1, and 3/8/79, p. 2. 221. Al-Ittihad, 29/6/79, p. 2. 222. Al-Ittihad, 3/8/79, p. 2. 223. Yediot Aharanot, 11/6/79, p. 8. 224. Al-Ittihad, 15/6/79, p. 2. 225 .Al-Quds, 18/6/79. 226.Davar, 19/6/79, p. 1 \Ma’ariv, 19/6/79, p. 3.

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will be established exclusively on “state-owned” land, 7,000 dunums of such land being “available” in the area. Karnei Shomron B, in its first phase will house 100 to 300 families.2 2 7 By November, the first 40 housing units are finished.22 8 Sharon states that the new settlement will be a town linked to the existing settlement of Karnei Shomron A.2 2 9

18 June — Arrests in the West Bank. The military authorities announce that 20 Palestinians have been arrested, including : Four residents of Jebal al-Mukabbar, east of Jerusalem, charged with carrying out several operations for the Palestinian Resistance ; two residents of Qabiya, near Ramallah, suspected of organising a Resistance “cell” and of planting explosive charges in the market of Lydd on 27 March ; and twelve Jerusalem residents accused of organising a Resistance “cell” and carrying out several attacks on Israeli targets.230

19 June — Measures taken against Fahd Qawasmeh, Mayor of Hebron. For the second time in a week, the military authorities turn down a request by Fahd Qawasmeh for permission to travel. This measure is in the way of a punishment for his participation, with a number of other West Bank mayors, in a meeting during which it was decided to hold a protest march on the occasion of 15 May.2 31

19 June — Armed attack on the Hebron Town Hall. A large force of Israeli troops attack the Hebron municipality building following its being decreed a “forbidden zone”. The Mayor of Halhoul, together with a number of other leading figures in the Hebron region, are evicted by force. When they are thrown out, they are about to begin their regular meeting, convened by Fahd Qawasmeh and attended by the mayors, municipal representatives and village council heads in the Hebron region, to discuss current local issues. The main topic scheduled for discussion on this occasion is the situation created by the Israeli policy of colonisation and the terrorisation of the population of Hebron by the Gush Emunim settlers in the area.232 This is the first time that a routine meeting has been forbidden since the beginning of the occupation.2 3 3

Meanwhile, the occupation authorities are considering “punishments” to be administered against mayors and village council heads in the West Bank

221 .Jerusalem Post, 19/6/79, p. 1. 228. Al-Quds, 6/11/79, p. 2. 229. Jerusalem Post, op. cit. In fact these two settlements will merge with the projected settlements of Karnei Shomron C and D to create a major urban complex. Under the cover of “wanting to enlarge and strengthen” the established settlements of Karnei Shomron A and B, the ministerial settlement committee on 28 August 1979 decides to add settlements C and D to the bloc. {Ha’aretz, 15/6/79, p. 8.) This decision is subsequently ratified by the cabinet on 9 September. (Ha’aretz, 14/9/79, p. 1 ; Cf. section B. p. 81, Karnei Shomron A.). 230. Al-Ittihad, 22/6/79, p. 3. 231. Ha’aretz, 19/6/79, p. 12. 232. Davar, 20/6/79, p. 1 \al-Ittihad, 22/6/79, p. 1. 233. The Guardian, 20/6/79, p. 6. Cf. Documents A, p. 140.

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who “infringe standing regulations,” with the objective of putting an end to their social activities. 4

19 June — Police assault on Hamza al-Tawil, of Hebron. Taking the bus to work in Jerusalem, as he does every day, Hamza al-Tawil is stopped at a check-point south of Bethlehem. Two border policemen order him to get out of the bus and then take him by force to a nearby hill where they proceed to beat him with the butts of their weapons. They keep him for about an hour, finally leaving him bruised and swollen from his beating, his lips bleeding and his nose fractured. Not content with beating him up, the border policemen go on to file a complaint against their victim on the grounds that he had been “cheeky”.

Al-Tawil approaches Attorney ‘Abed Assaly, who decribes the attack on his client as being born of a spirit of “revenge and hatred for my client simply because he is an Arab.”2 3 5

22 June - Sentencing of schoolchildren. The military court in Nablus sentences four pupils at the ‘Askar Boys School to four years imprisonment, two and a half of which are suspended, “for affiliation to an organisation of the Resistance and for undergoing training in the handling of explosives.” Defence Attorney Walid Fahoum irrefutably quashed the second charge, but nevertheless the court persisted in upholding it. The sentenced schoolchildren are Nasser Abdallah al-Khatib, aged 15, Kamal ‘Adnan al-Mallah, 15, Nasser ‘Abdel Muhsin al-Asmar, 16, and Jamal ‘Uthman al-Karam, 16.236

25 June — Establishment of Ma’aleh Adumin B : Requisition and Expropriation at Anata and Hizma villages, east of Jerusalem. Gush Emunim settlers begin ground clearing work on the site of the new settlement at Khan al-Ahmar on land expropriated in 1970 for “military purposes.” Ma’aleh Adumim B is to be built near Ma’aleh Adumim A, on the Jerusalem-Jericho road.2 3 7 When the decision to establish it was taken at the beginning of January by the Ministerial Settlement Committee, Sharon said that this new settlement would be part of a belt of settlements to be built between Jerusalem and Jericho.2 3 8 In a statement on 10 June, Matityahu Drobless says that Ma’aleh Adumim B will be an urban settlement offering commercial, administrative and other services.2 39 The groundwork on the settlement begins shortly after the Cabinet has approved its establishment.240

Ma’aleh Adumim B will also occupy the land of the villages of Anata and Hizma. On 25 June, the military governor of Ramallah issues an order “forbidding the inhabitants of the village of Anata from building on some

234. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 235. Jerusalem Post, 22/6/79, p. 5, and 10/7/79, p. 2. 236. Al-Ittihad, 22/6/79, p. 3. 237. Ha'aretz, 25/6/79, p. 1 \al-Ittihad, 26/6/79, p. 1. 238. Ha’aretz, 15/1/79, p. 1. 239. Ma’ariv, 10/6/79, p. 16. 240. Ha’aretz, 25/6/79, p. 1.

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7,000 dunums of their land,”241 256 dunums of which area belongs to the Mukhtar, Musa ‘Abdel Salam Salama, the remaining 6,600 dunums being the communal property of the village and registered in the names of the Mukhtar and the inhabitants of the village.242 This land, extending between Anata and the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, will be used for the establishment of Ma’aleh Adumim B.24 3

A spokesman for the military government says that this order is designed to permit the establishment of Ma‘aleh Adumim B. Following a meeting with the military governor of Ramallah, the Mukhtar of Anata tells a correspondent for al-Ittihad that at the beginning of the meeting, the Israeli officer had tried to disguise the fact that the building ban effectively amounted to an expropriation order, going as far as to refuse to hand over the list of villagers whose land is to be seized and the numbers of the threatened plots.244 The same day, “the military governor of Ramallah summons the Mukhtars of Anata and Hizma to notify them that the owners will receive orders of requisition and expropriation. “The specific areas falling under the building ban in Hizma are not indicated.2 4 5

The Mukhtar, in the name of the village, appeals to the High Court of Justice to ask the military authorities to give an adequate justification for the seizure of 7,000 dunums for the establishment of Ma‘aleh Adumim B. He stresses, in his petition, which is presented by Attorneys Langer and Assaly, that in the course of less than a year, Anata has already been the victim of large-scale expropriations, recalling that in December 1978, some 1,700 dunums of land belonging to the village were seized under the pretext that they were needed “for military purposes.”246

In order to confront the High Court with a fait accompli, and to pre-empt a provisional halt to their work on the settlement site, the Gush Emunim from 14-16 September accelerate their operations. An access road is cleared, 20 caravans are brought in, work on the infrastructure is completed (water ppipes, electricity, sewage,24 7 and the first 12 families move in.24 8 The establishment of Ma‘aleh Adumim B brings to four the number of settlements on the Jerusalem-Jericho road. The other three are Ma’aleh Adumim (urban settlement on the eastern limits of Jerusalem), Mitspeh Yarihou (where two settlement nuclei live, one of which is soon to move into another settlement in the Jordan River valley), and Mishor Adumim (a workers’ camp set up under the Ma’arakh administration).249

On 16 September, the High Court of Justice upholds the expropriation order. Accepting the State Attorney’s argument that the 6,600 dunums of land commonly owned by the village are “state-owned lands,” the Court rejects the evidence submitted by Felicia Langer. The Defence Attorney

241. Al-Ittihad, 29/6/79, p. 1. 242. Al-Ittihad, 18/9/79, p. 1. 243. Davar, 20/6/79, p. 1. 244. Al-Ittihad, 29/6/79, p. 1. 245. Jerusalem Post, 26/6/79, p. 1. 246. Davar, 17/9/79, p. 2. 247. Idem. 248. LeMonde, 18/9/79, p. 6. 249. Davar, 20/6/79, p. 1.

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proves that the lands cannot be classified as being owned by the state because they are registered in the name of the Mukhtar on behalf of the village. The court merely notes that the State Attorney “has engaged” not to expropriate the 256 dunums which are the private property of the Mukhtar. Thus, the Court refuses to order a halt to the work at Ma’aleh Adumim B.2 5 0

As soon as the High Court’s verdict is published, Sharon and Drobless set off for Ma’aleh Adumim B to celebrate with the Gush Emunim the foundation of their new settlement, where by now 20 families have moved in.251

In December, the Mukhtar of Anata, through the intermediary of Attorney Elias Khoury, requests authorisation to build an access road to a 300-dunums field. This field is all that remains of his land, all the rest having been seized.252

27 June — The settlement of Rihan. Established as a Nahal outpost, it is transformed into a civilian settlement. The Jewish Agency Settlement Department will be responsible for Rihan and will shortly install a factory for the manufacture of leather suitcases and demarcate land for a market garden, the settlement being based on industry and agriculture. This is the first settlement in the north of the West Bank to be affiliated to the Zionist Workers’ Movement (a subsidiary of the Independent Liberal Party).2 5 3

27 June-The settlement of Ma’aleh Efraim, established in 1972 in the Jordan Valley and slated to become an “urban centre.” On 27 June, the cornerstone for 75 new housing units is laid. This means that the number of families living in the settlement will reach 200. At present, 50 houses are occupied.254 In December, the Israeli press reports that 130 housing units are under construction in Ma’aleh Efraim, 180 more having been completed, with settlers installed. 200 new units will be built in 1980.2 5 5

3 July — Sentencing of Hassan Ibrahim al-Sharuf, a young Palestinian from the village of Nouba, near Hebron. The sentence is passed by the military court in Ramallah, which, charging him with “harbouring” a member of the Resistance and “giving him food and drink on two occasions,” condemns him to two and a half years imprisonment, nine months of which are to be served and the rest suspended.2 5 6

250. Al-Ittihad, 18/9/79, p. 1 ;Ha’aretz, 17/9/79, p. A, Jerusalem Post, 17/9/79, p. 1. 251. Davar, op. cit. 252. Al-Quds, 10/12/79, p. 4. 253. Ha’aretz, 28/6/79, p. 8. Rihaii will make up part of a bloc of settlements. The decision to establish two more settlements in the bloc has been already taken. The two settlements - Rihan B and C - are approved by the government on 16 September under the pretext that they are not new settlements at all, rather the “extension and strengthening” of the existing settlement of Rihan A {Ha’aretz, 17/9/79, p. 1). However, Sharon himself had already stated in the previous cabinet meeting on 2 September that the settlements to be established would be “20, 18 or 16 km.” from Rihan A. {Jerusalem Post, 3/9/79, p. 1 ; Cf. Rihan B settlement, p. 80). 254. Jerusalem Post, 28/6/79, p. 2. 255. Al-Hamishmar, 5/12/79, p. 8. 256. Al-Ittihad, 13/7/79, p. 3.

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6 July — Mass arrest at al-Mukabbar village, near Jerusalem. Israeli troops set about terrorising the village as they round up schoolchildren and students of all ages. As a collective measure they drain the wells of the village alleging that arms are concealed in them. They eventually withdraw, taking with them, among others ; Rahma Suleiman Abdo, a 16-year-old schoolgirl at the al-Ma’mouniyeh School in Jerusalem ; young secondary schoolgirls Amineh Muhammad ‘Uweysat, Samira Ali Bashir and Huda Muhammad ‘Aud ; and al-Najah University student Khodr Muhammad As’ad. The arrests are all of an entirely arbitrary nature, the young Palestinians being only “suspected” of belonging to the Resistance. They are submitted to a period of interrogation and tortured in order to make them “confess”.2 5 7

8 July - Controls on municipal funds. The Mayors of Nablus, Hebron and Ramallah affirm that their being forbidden to travel to other Arab countries and the restrictions that have been placed on funds reaching the municipalities have seriously hampered the various necessary development projects in their towns.25® Karim Khalaf declares to the press that the occupation authorities have begun to clamp down on the municipalities financially, citing the blocking of funds as a prime example. However, Khalaf makes it clear that the municipalities are not afraid of such collective punishments and will persist in the struggle to prevent the imposition of “administrative autonomy.”2 5 9 The military government alleges that as the Mayors have continued to “incite to agitation” despite repeated cautions against such activity, it has turned down their requests for travel permits.2 6 0

The military government contradicts itself shortly afterwards announcing on 10 July that “the municipalities must submit to it all the development projects in their towns so that the proper authorisation may be obtained for the allocation of funds.” The military government statement says that the lifting of the travel ban on the Mayors depends on the “degree of their abiding by the orders and directives” of the occupation forces. Among others things, they must desist from “all acts of subversion” against the occupation and from organising political congresses.2 6 1

11 July — Sentencing of schoolchildren of Aida Camp. They are accused of throwing stones at military vehicles during a demonstration which was staged in the camp. Sakout al-Izza is sentenced by the military court in Ramallah to five years imprisonment, with two more years suspended, as well as a IL 500 fine. Ahmad Ma’ali and Fathi Yusef ‘Abdel Fattah are sentenced by the same court to eight months imprisonment with an additional two years suspended and a IL 8,000 fine. On account of the stone-throwing, a curfew is also imposed on the camp.262

257. Al-Ittihad, 6/7/79, p. 2. 258. Ma’ariv, 9/7/79, p. 6. 259. Al-Ittihad, 10/7/79, p. 1. 260. Ma’ariv, op. cit. 261. Al-Hamishmar, 11/7/79, p. 2. 262. Al-Ittihad, 21 /7/79, p. 2.

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15 July - Measure taken against the Qalqilya agriculture department. The military authorities terminate the employment of department official Tssam Mustafa Hassan, who is the only permanent member of the staff, the other two officials being responsible for tours of inspection in the field. This redundancy comes within the framework of the authorities’ policy of “thinning-out the administrative apparatus” in the West Bank. Such amove can only have negative repercussions in a region like Qalqila with a thriving agriculture. The farmers in the area, who are worried that the department, whose staff is already insufficient, might be forced to close, protest to the military authorities against this measure.2 6 3

19 July — Municipal development project in Qalqilya rejected. The Qalqilya municipality’s request for authorisation to add a maternity wing to the town’s hospital is turned down. The hospital has four 25-bed wards to serve a population of 25,000. The inadequacy of the hospital’s equipment makes it impossible to distribute the patients by section.26^

23 July — Cultural repression. A theatre troupe in the West Bank is forbidden to stage “Return to Haifa” by the Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani.2 6 5

2 August — Formation of local councils. The settlers in the regions of Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarm, Jenin and Salfit have decided to form local councils. Each council will be made up of seven to eleven members and its formation will have to be approved by the regional military governor.2 6 6

2 August — Administrative detention. Ali Abu Hilal, Muhammad al-Labadi and Mahmoud Nimr Ziyadeh, from Abu Deis, are arrested under a military decree placing them in administrative detention for six months. Shortly after their arrest, they are charged with belonging to an organisation of the Resistance, Defence attorney ‘Abed Assaly protests against this charge which is not based on any proof whatsoever. He maintains that the reasons for the detention of his clients are of a political nature, and demands that the detainees be immediately released. 7

7-17 August — Strike at Neveli Tirza prison in Ramallah. 25 Palestinian political detainees refuse to leave their cells and work. Their action is in protest against the constant abuse and humiliation they are subjected to at the hands of the prison administration on the slightest excuse.2 6 8

12 August — Establishment of Ganei Tal settlement, about one km. north of the Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip. It

263. Al-Sha’ab, 15/7/79, p. 2 \al-Fajr, 15/7/79, p. 4. 264. Al-TalVa, No. 72, 19/7/79, p. 8. 265. Jerusalem Post, 24/7/79, p. 2. 266. Al-Sha’ab, 2/8/79. 267. Al-Tali’a, No. 96, 3/1/79, p. 2. 268. Al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 8.

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is established to replace the settlement of Katif A, and constitutes the fourth in a string of seven to be established in the shape of a horseshoe, with Netzer Hazani and Morag as the two extremities. This group of settlements is designed to provide a buffer zone between Egypt and the Gaza Strip following Israel’s total withdrawal from the Sinai. Ganei Tal is slated to become a regional centre providing services to the three other settlements in the area. On August 12, the first families for Ganei Tal move into their “permanent dwellings.” Hitherto, they had been living in Kfar Darom settlement.2 6 9

19 August — Settlement of Kadumim,2 7 0 established in 1978 to the west of Nablus. At present it numbers 110 families.271 On 15 February, Drobless stated that the Ministerial Settlement Committee had approved the construction of 300 new housing units there as part of a preliminary phase of a plan for settlement enlargement. Drobless took into account the army’s intention to evacuate the settlement in the near future,2 7 2 which would leave it with 210 more dunums, bringing the total area of Arab land occupied by the settlement to 500 dunums.273

27 August — Authorisation withheld for electrification of Hebron region. A military spokesman announces that “it will take many months” before the military government responds to the proposal formulated towards the end of 1978 by the Union of Co-operatives for the electrification of the Hebron district. The Union, obliged to submit any project to the military government for prior approval, has been waiting until now for a reply to its request for authorisation for this new project which would make it possible to solve many problems related to food and storage. Eleven villages, or more than 40,000 people, would benefit from this plan. Union officials say that the authorities are taking an excessively long time to give their response to the proposal, although the funds for the projects have long been available.2 74

28 August — The settlement of Sal’it, established in 1978 as aNahal outpost in the Tulkarm region. On 28 August, several civilian settler families move into Sal’it. Agriculture and industry will provide the economic base of the new settlement, the first in the northern sector of the West Bank to be affiliated to Herat, the party of Prime Minister Begin.2 7 5

28 August — Sentencing of young Palestinians. The military court in Nablus sentences Halima Freytekh (aged 16, arrested on 23 May) to six years imprisonment for throwing a Molotov cocktail, Ahlam Muhammad Semhan

269. Hatsofeh, 13/8/79, p. 4; Ha 'aretz, 13/8/79, p. 8 ; Jerusalem Post, 2/9/79, p. 2. 270. Cf. Section A. p. 26. 271. Jerusalem Post, 20/8/79, p. 2. 212. Jerusalem Post, 15/2/79, p. 2. 273. Jerusalem Post, 20/8/79, p. 2. 21 A. Jerusalem Post, 28/8/79, p. 3. 215. Ha aretz, 29/8/79, p. 4.

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(aged 16) to five years, three of which suspended, and Rifat Khalil Beshara (aged 22) to seven years, half of which suspended, for belonging to the Palestinian Resistance and training in the use of weapons.2 7 6

28 August — Arrest of student Zafer Subhi Ghazal. He is detained for 22 days for spitting on the car of an Israeli officer passing through Nablus. In November, the military court of Jenin sentences him to one month’s imprisonment, suspended, and orders him to pay a fine of IL 2,000.2 7 7

29 August — The case of As£ad Tewfiq Sha’ban, aged 26, from Jalama village near Jenin (cf. 11 June), Sha’ban relates his story to Felicia Langer when she visits him on 29 August. He was arrested five months previously because a bomb was found in the bus he took to work every day. Before arresting him, the authorities summoned him for interrogation on numerous occasions. They ignored the testimony of several eyewitnesses who said that Sha’ban was not carrying any kind of package on the day the bomb was discovered, nor at any time in the two months that preceded the incident. Under torture he signed a “confession” in which he said that he planted the bomb, which was eventually dismantled. His torturers beat him systematically on the head and genitals and rubbed his head so violently that he lost consciousness because of the intense heat generated by the friction. He lapsed into a comatose state for a number of days. Then the torture was resumed. After that he signed the paper that they handed him. Sha’ban risks being condemned to a long prison sentence if the court refuses to take into consideration that he “confessed under torture.” His prison companions tell Langer that he faints from time to time and that his physical condition is extremely precarious. Langer demands that a doctor from outside the prison come to examine Sha’ban.2 7 8

When his trial opens on 8 October, Sha’ban reiterates in front of the court that his confession was extracted from him under torture. He declares the report drawn up by the police, and read out to the court, to be false. The report alleges that Sha’ban pointed out the seat under which he is supposed to have planted the bomb, while Sha’ban states that he merely pointed out the seat in which he had been sitting. The case is adjourned.2 7 9

2-5 September — Collective repression in Nablus. On the grounds that a Molotov cocktail has been thrown at a military vehicle, the entire population of Nablus is forbidden from moving out of town. For the four days that this order is in force, a mass search operation is carried out. Dozens of young Palestinians are arbitrarily arrested. 8 0

3 September — Curfew on the villages of Hassan and Wadi Fouqin in the Bethlehem region. It is imposed between three and eight o’clock in the

276. Al-Ittihad, 4/9/79, p. 2. 277 .Al-Ittihad, 4/12/79, p. 2. 278. Al-Ittihad, 14/9/79, p. 3. 279. Al-Ittihad, 23/10/79, p. 2. 280. Al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 8.

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morning in order to allow the fencing off of 400 dunums of land which the Land Department claims to have “bought.” The owners of the land appeal to the High Court of Justice and, with the help of other villagers, confront the troops and policemen who carried out the closing-off operation. Several villagers are injured.2 81

3 September — The settlement of ‘Ofra : Expropriation at ‘Ain Yabroud and Silwad villages in the Ram all ah region. The settlers, members of the Gush Emunim, seize 100 dunums of land lying to the north of their settlement and belonging to the inhabitants of the two villages. When the owners of the land protest to the military authorities, they are told that a special committee will be formed to “study what action should be taken.” Naturally, nothing is done. On the contrary, the authorities, for alleged “security reasons,” forbid the landowners to build on the seized area. The settlers do not evacuate the 100 dunums, despite the repeated protests of the landowners. The villagers are especially concerned on account of the fact that the ‘Ofra settlers have announced that they want to seize 800 dunums for the expansion of their settlement2 8 2 — an expansion which, since March, Sharon had promised them they could undertake. On 15 March, only two days after settlers from ‘Ofra had run amok through the streets of Ramallah with their automatic weapons and pistols, Sharon visited the settlement and gave his approval for the construction of 50 new housing units in the settlement in addition to the 18 already under construction.2 8 3

5 September — Cultural repression. The distribution of 28 books by Arab poets and authors is forbidden. The books, which are destined for use in schools in the West Bank, are banned on account of their “nationalistic content.”284 “Several hundred” books from Arab countries have thus been forbidden by the military authorities since the beginning of the occupation.285

6 September — Water problems in Qalqilya. Five artesian wells have recently dried up in Qalqilya and the level in 65 other wells is steadily going down. The military authorities forbid the owners of the wells to pump water beyond a fixed period of time. The population of the town fears that the crisis will worsen, especially since on 28 August Israeli radio had announced that four new settlements are shortly to be established near Qalqilya.2 86

6 September — Water problems in Hebron. The military authorities refuse to accord the Hebron municipality permission to sink an artesian well near the village of Bani Na’im.287 The problem is further aggravated by the restrictions imposed on the distribution of water. The pipeline supplying the

281. Idem ; al-Iitihad, 4/9/79, p. 1. 282. Ha’aretz, 4/9/79, p. 1 ; al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 3 ; al-Tali’a, No. 83, 4/10/79, p. 1. 283. Jerusalem Post, 16/3/79, p. 2. 284. Ma’ariv, 5/9/79, p. 6 ;al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 2. 285. Ma’ariv, op. cit. 286. Al-Tali’a, No. 79, 6/9/79, p. 6 287. Idem.

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region of “Taqou” near the village of Sa’ir has been divided in two on the hills at the northern entrance to Hebron itself in order to guarantee water supplies to the settlement of Kiryat Arba’. The pipe leading to Kiryat Arba’ has no restrictions on it, while the one supplying Hebron is severely regulated. It is closed for fixed periods, which means that only a bare minimum of water reaches the town, whose inhabitants are understandably indignant.2 8 8

6 September — Arrests in Gaza. A military spokesman announces that 70 people have been arrested over the last three weeks.2 8 9 “This is the biggest operation of its kind to take place in Gaza for a number of years.” The son of Dr. Haidar ‘Abd al-Shafi, President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza, is among those arrested,2 9 0 as is the agricultural engineer ‘Ata Abu Karash, who is an employee of the Gaza municipality.2 9 1

7 September — Construction in Jerusalem. The new building for the “Supreme Court of Justice” is formally opened. It is located in the Old City of Jerusalem.292

9 September — Expropriation at Beit Qad, in the Jenin region. 500 dunums of land are closed off at Beit Qad.29 3 The inhabitants of the village state that the land is destined for settlement. A military spokesman alleges that the land has been “fenced off for the construction of a military installation.”294

10 September — Establishment of nucleus for Ma’rav Shomron. The settlement of El Kana, established in 1977, in the Tulkarm region is “split” in two, one group remaining in the settlement, the other becoming a nucleus for Ma’rav Shomron.2 9 5

11 September — Expropriation in the Tulkarm region. The military governor of Tulkarm notifies the head of the municipal council of Deot Istya that 16,000 dunums of land belonging to ten villages in the Tulkarm region, and located on the Nablus-Qalqilya road, have been “closed off in order to be used as a military training zone.” The head of the council, Muhammad Amin al-Qadi, states that this land is cultivated and has a number of wells on it which supply water to several neighbouring villages.2 96 A military spokesman alleges that most of the land involved is “rocky and uncultivated” and that the cultivated plots are “rare”.297

288. Al-Tali’a, No. 84, 11/10/79, p. 8. 289. Al-Ittihad, 11/9/79, p. 6. 290. LeMonde, 9/10/79, p. 6. 291. Al-Tali’a, No. 84, 11/10/79, p. 4. 292. Hatsofeh, 7/9/79, p. 10. 293. Al-Sha’ab, 11/9/79. 294. Ha’aretz, 12/9/79, p. 3. 295. Ma’ariv, 10/9/79, p. 19. 296. Al-Ittihad, 14/9/79, p. 1 ;Ha’aretz, 12/9/79, p. 3. and 21/9/79, p. 5. 297. Jerusalem Post, 13/9/79, p. 2.

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11 September — Construction of Hutseh Yehuda Road : Expropriation at Idna, northwest of Hebron. Without any warning, military government bulldozers begin tearing up olive trees and vines over an area of 800 dunums of land belonging to the villagers of Idna. The new expropriation is to make way for the Hutseh-Yehuda road which is to link the coastal plain to Mitspeh Shalem, by way of Gush Etzion.2 9 8

12 September — Sentencing of Nasser Abdel Jawad Saleh (son of the former Mayor of al-Bireh, who was deported from the West Bank in 1974) to five months imprisonment on charges of harbouring a member of the Resistance.2 9 9

13 September — Sentencing of seven young Palestinians from Qalqilya. Muhammad ‘Audeh (aged 20) and Jamal Jebara (20) are sentenced to 19 years imprisonment ; Muhammad Zeid (19) and ‘Uthman Daoud (18) are sentenced to 15 years, ‘Ali Ramadan (19) and Yasser Abu Khodr (20) to ten years, and ‘Ali Marwan Khodr (17) to seven years. The military court in Nablus charges them with throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles.300

14 September — Establishment of Rihan B :301 Expropriation at ‘Arraba, in the Jenin region. 800 dunums of land belonging to the village of ‘Arraba have been closed off for the establishment of “a military control post.”302 In fact, this land will allow the creation of the settlement of Rihan B and the transfer of Sanour settlement to its permanent site.

Rihan B, whose establishment was decided on by the Ministerial Settlement Committee on 28 August (a decision ratified by the Cabinet on 16 September),303 will be built opposite Rihan A, near the road leading from the settlement of Mi’ami to Nablus by way of the main Nablus-Jenin road.3 04 On 31 October, “highly-placed” sources announce that groundwork on this new settlement has started.3 0 5

The settlement of Sanour, established in 1974 in the old police station of Sanour village, changes its name to Dotan in the process of changing sites. 200 dunums are allocated to it near the village of ‘Arraba. The occupation authorities allege that this area consists of “state-owned land or “rocky” land.306

17 September — Sentencing of young Palestinians from Balata Camp for attempting to manufacture explosives from chemical materials taken from the nearby village school. Muhammad Da’ouss, Jihad al-‘Asami, Jamal

298. Al-Ittihad, 11/9/79, p. 6, and 14/9/79, p. 8 ;Ha’aretz, 12/9/79, p. 3. 299. Al-Ittihad, 14/9/79, p. 1. 300. Al-Ittihad, 18/9/79, p. 6. 301. Cf. note 253, p. 75. 302. Al-Ittihad, 14/9/79, p. 1. 303. Ma’ariv, 29/8/79, p. 3 ; The Guardian, 17/9/79, p. 6. 304. Ma'ariv, 2/10/79, p. 16. 305. Ha’aretz, 1/11/79, p. 1. 306. Ma'ariv, 5/8/79, p. 4.

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al-Iraqi and Khaled Thabet are sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 17 years.307

19 September — Arrests in Jerusalem. More than 40 Palestinians are arrested following the explosion of a charge planted in Jerusalem.308

20 September — The settlement of Rosh Tsurim, established in 1969 in the Jerusalem region. Rosh Tsurim is accorded an additional 500 dunums expropriated from Ibrahim ‘Audeh (from the village of al-Sakariyeh). He was earlier deported after refusing to leave his land, which is under cultivation.309

20 September — Colonisation. Fifty pre-fabricated houses are transported to the settlement of Neveh Tsuf A, apparently destined for the settlement of Neveh Tsuf B which is to be established near Neveh Tsuf A, northwest of Ramallah.3 1 0 The Israeli press reported in March that one of the ten new settlements which the Agriculture Ministry intended to build “in the coming months” was Neveh Tsuf B.311

21 September — The settlement of Karnei Shomron A,31 2 established in the Tulkarm region, 3 km. to the west of Nablus. Work on the expansion of this Gush Emunim settlement is currently in progress. A stretch of land of the edge of the Kana Valley is being prepared for annexation to the settlement, with a view to creating an industrial zone.313 It is planned that Karnei Shomron A will amalgamate with two other settlements in the process of being constructed in the region (Karnei Shomron B and C) to make a town with a population of 25,000 to 30,000.3 14 This town will be no more than 15 minutes’ drive from the Palestinian town of Qalqilya.315 In February, there were 40 families living in Karnei Shomron A ; now there are 100.316

21 September — Sentencing of five 18-year-old Palestinians to prison terms ranging from two to four years. Tmad Mahmoud al-Kouni, Hisham ‘Abdel Rahman al-‘Aqad, Muhammad Hilmi al-‘Aqad, Hassan Khodr al-Anabtawi and Jamal ‘Ali Ibrahim are charged by the military court in Nablus with belonging to the Resistance.317

23 September — Arrests in the Hebron region. A military spokesman announces the arrest of “several” Palestinians in the area suspected of belonging to the Resistance.3 1 8

307. Al-Ittihad, 21/9/79, p. 8. 308. Al-Ittihad, 21/9/79, p. 1. 309. Ha'aretz, 20/9/79, p. 1. 310. Al-Tali’a, No. 81, 20/9/79, p. 1. 311. Ha ’aretz, 23/3/79, p. 1. 312. Cf. Section A. p. 10. 313. Ha aretz, 21/9/79, p. 5. 314. Idem, and Yediot Aharonot, 14/12/79, p. 7. 315. Jerusalem Post, 22/2/79, p. 3 \Ha’aretz, op. cit. cf. note 229, p. 70 (Section B). 316. Ha’aretz, 21/9/79, p. 5. 317. Al-Ittihad, 21/9/79, p. 2. 318. Al-Ittihad, 25/9/79, p. 6 ; Jerusalem Post, 25/9/79, p. 3.

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4 October — Municipal development project rejected in Silwad. The municipality of Silwad is forbidden to carry out a project to widen the main road from the town to al-Taibeh. It is also subjected to a construction ban on land 400 metres from either side of the road.319

4 October — Arbitrary arrest of Palestinian author Zaki al-‘Ayaleh of Gaza. No charges are brought against him. Before being arrested he was summoned for interrogation several times and subjected to physical and psychological torture. He is detained for two weeks.3 2 0

5 October — Restriction on freedom of association. Bashir al-Barghouti, editor-in-chief of al-Tali’a, Jamal al-Tarif, deputy Mayor of al-Bireh, and the poet ’Ali al-Khalili are not authorised to participate in the “Conference on Palestine” which is to take place in Nazareth.3 21

7 October — Censorship of al-Usbu’ al-Jadid. The Minister of the Interior forbids the distribution in the West Bank of al-Usbu’ al-Jadid, a new Arabic weekly published in East Jerusalem. The owners, Zuhair al-Rayess of Gaza and Hanna Sinoria of Jerusalem also own the Jerusalem daily al-Fa/r. The censorship of the new publication threatens it with liquidation.322

7 October - Establishment of two new settlements : Expropriation at Beit Lahiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The inhabitants of the Beit Eahiya region announce that, by order of the Military Governor of Gaza, 2,500 dunums of land belonging to them, and located near the village of Sayfeh, have been expropriated. They state that the land, mostly dunes, was sold to them in the 1960’s and is incontrovertibly their property. This does not stop the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency from alleging that most of the land affected by the expropriation is “state-owned”, adding that “compensation” will be given to the owners of a few “dozen” dunums of private land. The Department’s spokesman says that the land will be used for the establishment of two settlements which would constitute an extension to Kibbutz Arz, situated in the north of the Gaza Strip.3 2 3

The military authorities of Gaza for their part allege that the levelling work that has got under way on the expropriated land is being carried out for the municipality of Jabalia.324 General Matt, in the course of a visit to the region on 10 October, responds to the protests of Gaza Mayor Rashad al-Shawwa by claiming that the work in progress near Sayfeh, between Gaza and Beit Lahiya is not designed for the establishment of a new settlement.3 2 5 The day before Matt’s statement, the landowners affected by the seizure and the levelling work — which had already been going on for two

319. Al-Tali’a, No. 83, 4/10/79, p. 1. 320. Al-Tali’a, No. 84, 11/10/79, p. 11 ; al-Ittihad, 19/10/79, p. 5. 321. Al-Ittihad, 9/10/79, p. 1. 322. Jerusalem Post, 9/10/79, p. 2. 323. Davar mdHa’aretz, 8/10/79, p. 1. 324. Davar, 9/10/79, p. 2. 325. Al-TalVa, No. 85, 18/10/79, p. 4 \al-Quds, 11/10/79, p. 2.

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weeks before they were appraised of the expropriation — had notified the military governor of Gaza that they rejected any compensation and demand¬ ed that their land be returned to them.3 2 6

8 October — Expropriation at Tubas, in the Jenin region. The military governor of Jenin notifies the Mukhtars of the villages around Tubas that 1,200 dunums of arable land will be requisitioned for use for “military manoeuvres.” The Mukhtar of Tubas, Hashem al-Saleh, affirms that nothing would induce him to believe that the justification given for the seizure was anything more than a pretext. This new seizure brings the total land in the area expropriated since the beginning of the occupation to 80,000 dunums. In the last two years, 4,000 dunums have been expropriated from the villagers of Tubas for alleged “military reasons.” Each time expropriations have occurred, all buildings or other structures (houses, pumpage stations etc...) have been razed to the ground, and sooner or later settlements have risen on the site. The settlements so far established on land in the Tubas area allegedly expropriated for “military” reasons are Mekhora, Beka’ot, Argaman and Ro’i. Hashem al-Saleh sends a cable of protest against the new seizure to Defence Minister Weizman, and declares that he intends to appeal to the High Court of Justice on the grounds that, contrary to the reasons given for the expropriation, the 1,200 dunums which have just been seized have been used for the installation of 80 caravans, with a view to establishing a settlement.327

11 October — Demolition of a house, on the road between the al-‘Uroub refugee camp and the village of Beit Amer. The reason given is to make way for the widening of the road. However, the occupants of the house, which belongs to fcAbu Maria’, say that the demolition could have been avoided, as the house is some distance from the road.3 2 8

13 October — Cultural Repression. The military authorities ban the West Bank distribution of the review al-Shira, published in Jerusalem.32 9

16 October — Three houses dynamited in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The houses belong to the members of a Resistance cell accused of attacking an Israeli soldier.3 30

17 October — The case of Nayef Musa Jaber Musa, from Gaza, sentenced in 1976 to 19 years imprisonment and currently detained in Gaza prison. He was stripped and beaten systematically all over his body, and since that time he has been suffering from amnesia. While he was in a semi-unconscious state, his torturers made him sign a document in which he admitted to being

326. Al-Hamishmar, 10/10/79, p. 1 \Davar, 8/10/79, p. 1. 327. Al Hamishmar, 10/10/79, p. 1 ; Le Monde, 11/10/79, p. 7 \al-Ittihad, 23/10/79, p. 1 ; Jerusalem Post, 26/10/79, p. 1. 328. Al-Tali’a, No,. 84, 11/10/79, p. 4. 329. Al-Quds, 13/10/79, p. 2. 330. The Guardian, 17/10/79, p. 7.

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a member of the Resistance and that he had carried out an attack against a military vehicle. His parents ask the International Red Cross to intercede on his behalf, and they succeed in getting him transferred to the psychiatric hospital at Ramleh prison. He stays there for a month and a half. When he is returned to Gaza prison his condition worsens. On 17 October, during a sitting of the military court in Gaza, Felicia Langer demands that he be given a thorough medical examination.3 31

19 October — Restrictions on freedom of association. Dr. Haidar Abdel Shaft’, President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza, and the Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan, of Nablus, are forbidden to participate in a colloquium on the Palestinian question scheduled for 21 October in Acre. 32

19 October — The case of Muhammad Mehdi Bseiso. Felicia Langer visits him in Shatta prison, where he was transferred in April 1977 on account of his active role in the hunger strikes staged in 1976-77 in ‘Asqalan prison. He is suffering from a stomach ulcer, rheumatism, haemorroids and damaged kidneys. The prison administration had accused him of trying to escape - a charge which he absolutely refutes — and placed him in a small, badly-ventilated cell which recieved no sunlight. After five weeks, the International Red Cross intervened and he was moved to another, lightless and stiflingly hot cell. He was deprived of all reading material and his radio, which was his sole contact with the outside world. He tells Langer that, out of a spirit of vindictiveness, the administration had refused to apply the prescriptions of the prison doctor, who had requested that Bseiso be given a special diet on account of his stomach ulcer. He assures Langer that despite all the measures that have been taken against him, he will continue his struggle for his rights.3 3 3

23 October — Sentencing of young Palestinians in Gaza. The brothers Mahmoud and Muhammad al-Halabi, and Riyad and Fawzi Rida, together with Jihad Ibrahim ‘Abdo and Muhammad Dabbous, are sentenced by the military court in Gaza for belonging to the Resistance and for harbouring a member of the Resistance being sought by the authorities. The severity of the sentences, which range between ten and three and a half years imprisonment, stems from the fact that the court is taking into consideration the remarks of the military Attorney General, who, during the session says : “The Gaza district has been the scene of seven military actions since the beginning of the year. Young people are continuing to enroll in droves in the various organisations (of the Palestinian Resistance). All the sentences that we have passed in the course of these 12 years (of occupation) have not succeeded in breaking this impulse. It is for this reason that starting from today we must turn over a new leaf and make the sentences as heavy as

331. Al-Ittihad, 6/11/79, p. 2. 332. Al-Ittihad, 23/10/79, p. 6. 333. Al-Ittihad, 30/10/79, p. 2.

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possible.” Attorneys Felicia Langer and Fayez Abu Rahmeh condemn the Attorney General’s remarks and denounce the sentences. They affirm that their clients, although not charged with carrying out a military operation, were in fact sentenced on the basis that they had. 34

24 October — Expropriation at Jaba’, in the Jenin region. The military governor of Jenin summons the Mukhtar of the village of Jaba’, Auni Ghannam, and notifies him that more than 20,000 dunums of land (30,000 dunums according to al-Sha’ab) have been “closed off’ in the area to make way for “military training camps.” The owners are forbidden to enter their land without prior authorisation. This measure will inevitably damage their crops, the fenced-off land being planted with olive trees. The following areas are affected : Hreish, Mabata, Bi’r ‘Amro, Bi’r Khalil, Bi’r Wadi, Bi’r al-Sabil, Bi’r Isma’il, ‘Abu al-Namal, al-Naqab, al-Zahr, Jebel Labrun, Jebel Bayazid, Ras al-Ma’jur and al-Weidan.3 3 5

24 October — Sentencing of Husni Salem, aged 21, from Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. The military court in Gaza sentences him to six years imprisonment for belonging to the Resistance and carrying out a military operation.336

24 October — Sentencing of schoolboy Muhammad Yusef al-Haj Mas’uf, of the village of Sanjal in the Ramallah region. The military court in Ramallah orders him to pay a fine of IL 5,000 for intervening when a policeman was maltreating people queueing for travel permits in front of the military government offices. The schoolboy had merely asked the policeman to stop treating the people so brutally.3 3 7

24 October — Sentencing of Bassam and Ghassan Hassuna. The two brothers from al-Bireh are charged by the military court in Ramallah with harbouring someone suspected by the authorities of having carried out a number of military operations. Bassam (aged 18) is sentenced to two years imprisonment, and Ghassan to two and a half. Felicia Langer manages to obtain an interim injunction from the High Court of Justice forbidding the demolition of the house belonging to the brothers’ parents.3 3 8

25 October — Restrictions in the Hebron region. The military authorities reject a request from young people in the villages in the area for permission to open a Youth Club. The authorities allege that the bodies responsible for social activities are “incapable” of taking charge of the proposed club.339 In fact the military authorities do not want to give the young people the opportunity to meet for fear that they might use the chance to discuss “politics”.

334. Idem. 335. ’Al-Sha’ab, 25/10/79 \al-Quds, 25/10/79, p. 1. 336. Jerusalem Post, 25/10/79, p. 3. 331. Al-Ittihad, 6/11/79, p. 2. 338. Idem. 339. Al-TalVa, No. 86, 25/10/79, p. 11.

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25 October — Ban on Arab construction in Jerusalem. Rashid Muhammad Subeyh Shuqayreh is ordered to pay a fine of IL 200,000, ’Ali Muhammad ’Ali al-Qanbar is ordered to pay IL 158,000, and Ghaliya Uweyseh to pay iL 20,000 for building without a permit in the Jebel al-Mukabbar area. The sentences are particularly unjust in view of the fact that the Jerusalem municipality only rarely grants such permits, and so the Arab population has no choice but to go ahead and build and take the risk of being penalised.340

25 October — Sentencing of Riyad ’Abd Muhammad ’Abu Lafi, aged 21, from Jerusalem. The military court in Lydd condemns him to four years imprisonment for belonging to the Resistance.34 1

25 October — Denial of freedom of association. The military government rejects a request put forward by the preparatory committee for the Chamber of Industry to be permitted to form a chamber of industry to be in the West Bank.342

25 October — Repression of schoolchildren. The military authorities forbid students in their second year at the Ram all ah secondary school from continuing their studies. The school administration nevertheless steps up its courses so as to make up for lost time on account of the closure of the school by order of the military authorities. The students are reduced to studying at home.34 3

30 October - Wave of arrests throughout the occupied Palestinian territories following five explosions between 26 and 29 October (in front of the HQ of the military government in Nablus, on the Haifa-Tel Aviv railway ; in the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv). Hundreds of Palestinians are arrested and dozens of them remain under detention.344

30 October — Interference in municipal affairs. The military authorities claim that “anarchy prevails” in the administration of the Halhoul municipality. Mayor Muhammad Hassan Milhem stresses that this statement involves the creation of a new pretext to take legal action against the municipal council with a view to its disbandment.345

30 October — Sentencing of Bassam Mahmoud ’Abad, aged 20, of the village of ’Aqbat Jaber in the Ramallah district. The military court in Ramallah passes the sentence (two years imprisonment, 14 months of which are suspended) on the basis of charges that have been held against him for a number of years. ’Abad is charged with distributing pamphlets in 1974 in the name of the Palestinian National Front, participating in the demonstrations

340. Al-Taii’a, No. 86, 25/10/79, p. 4. 341 .Al-Quds, 25/10/79, p. 4. 342. Idem. 343. Al-TalVa, op. cit. 344. Al-Ittihaa, 30/10/79, p. 6. 345. Idem.

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which took place in 1976 on the occasion of the Day of the Land, and being a member of an organization of the Resistance.346

30 October — Sentencing of ’Abdel Hadi Mahmoud al-Ghawanimeh, by the military court in Ramallah to five years in prison. He is charged with “having the intention of joining” an organization of the Resistance. Felicia Langer attempts in vain to convince the court of the grave significance of the fact that they have sentenced someone on the basis of his intentions and not on the basis of his actions.3 4 7

30 October - Expropriation at Barta’a,34 8 in the Jenin region. The military government of Jenin notifies landowners in Barta’a that they are forbidden to enter their land to farm it, and that any infringement of this order will be punishable by imprisonment or heavy fines. The population ^ of Barta’a al-SHarqiyeh, who in 1948 lost all their farming land located in “the west,” in 1955 received the neighbouring mucha land. The owners have documents and the Tabu attesting to their rights of ownership. The military governor refuses to recognise the validity of these documents, and tells the farmers that “this land does not belong” to them.349

On 8 November, 19 landowners from Barta’a, owning between them 150 dunums of the land seized, present a petition to the High Court of Justice for the issuance of an injunction against the Minister of Defence and the military governor of Jenin, calling on them to show cause “why the expropriation and closure of the land should not be rescinded and the farmers authorised to cultivate their land as they have been accustomed to.” The landowners in their petition reveal that the occupation forces have on more than one occasion shown themselves to be covetous of this particular stretch of land. They note that in 1968 the former military governor of Jenin tried to make them sign an expropriation order, and that on 5 June 1979 the new military governor of the region notified them that “he was not entirely convinced of their rights of ownership.” The Mukhtar of the village and a delegation of landowners bring the Tabu from Amman. The governor then had no option but to seek to expropriate their land while claiming that it was necessary for the “establishment of a military training ground. 350

On 28 November, the High Court decides to annul the landowners’ appeal, on the grounds that the testimony presented by the State Attorney effectively annulled the expropriation order. However, the testimony is formulated as follows : “This land (the 150 dunums belonging to the farmers who appealed) is registered in the name of the State. However, as there are persons who claim that they have rights of ownership over this land, the Israeli government does not at present have the intention to seize it for

346. Al-Ittihad, 13/11/79, p. 2. 347. Idem. 348. The western part of this village was annexed in 1948. It was designated‘Barta a al-Gharbieyh m order to distinguish it from the other sector, known as ‘Barta’a al-Sharqiyeh1. A narrow road and a barbed wire fence divide Barta’a down the middle. 349 .Al-Ittihad, 30/10/79, p. 3. 350. Al-Ittihad, 9/11/79, p. 1 \al-Quds, 14/11/79, p. 1.

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settlement. In the event that such an intention should manifest itself in the future, it will not be made concrete until the persons who claim to own this land are given a sufficient period in which to have recourse to the Court.”351 The terms of this testimony are quite unambiguous. They renew the government’s alleged right to appropriate “state-owned” land, recalling the wide definition of this category of land. The testimony moreover leaves the way open for a new expropriation attempt.

1 November — Measures taken against Karim Khalaf, Mayor of Ramallah. The military authorities forbid him to participate in the “World Conference of Solidarity with the Arab People and their Central Cause Palestine,” to be held in Lisbon from 2-6 November.3 5 2

2 November — Measures taken against Khadija Abu Arqoub, of the village of Dora in the Hebron region. She is placed under surveillance for six months, forbidden to leave her house after nightfall. She is only allowed to move about in the West Bank during daytime.3 5 3

4 November — Expropriation in the Jenin region. The West Bank military government notifies the Palestinian authorities in the Jenin region that 7Q,,000 dunums of land will be “closed off.”3 5 4 The military government claims that this land — farming land serving as the sole source of livelihood for 20„Q00 people3 5 5 — will be used for “military purposes.” In September, 1,500 hectares, and then, in October, 120 hectares, had been requisitoned by the army in the Nablus region for the same alleged reasons. The military administration claims that “these are not confiscations, still less the establishment of camps or civilian settlements.” The military maintains that on account of the evacuation of the Sinai it is obliged to find new land for manoeuvres.35 6

On 6 November the Mukhtafs and leading personalities of the villages of Zabda, Barta’a, Toura, Nazlat Zaid and al-Taram meet in the municipality of Ya’bad to discuss the threat of expropriation hanging over 70,000 dunums of their land. They send a memorandum to the Minister of Defence and the Military Governor of the West Bank condemning this new measure. They affirm : “in view of the decision of the military authorities, as communicated to the Mukhtars of Ya’bad and the villages of Barta’a, Zabda, Toura, Nazlat Zaid and al-Taram, to forbid access to the cultivated plots of land surrounding the town of Ya’bad, and whose area is estimated at some 70,000 dunums, we hereby affirm that this land is for the most part farming land and constitutes the sole stable source of income for the inhabitants of these villages.” The memorandum goes on : “This land is privately owned.

351. Al-Ittihad, 4/12/79, p. 6. 352. Jemsalem Post, 2/11/79, p. 3. 353. Al-Ittihad, 2/11/79, p. 8. 354. Le Monde, 11-12/11/79, p. 18 ; Jemsalem Post, 5/11/79, p. 1. Ha’aretz adds that the army already has 970,000 dunums in the West Bank at its disposal ; that is 16% of total area of the West Bank (Ha’aretz, 6/11/79, p. 2). 355. Al-Quds, 7/11/79, p. 1. 356. Le Monde, op. cit.

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There exist [Tabu] documents drawn up by the land registration department proving the legal title of the owners to their land. The land is, moreover, heavily populated.” For all these reasons, the memorandum concludes, “we demand... the cancellation of this decision and the return of the land to its rightful owners so that theyycarflive on it in honour and dignity.”3 5 7

10 November — Sentencing of ’Alaeddin Ahmad al-Baziyan. Charged, without substantiated proof, with planting an explosive device in Jerusalem, he is sentenced to five years in prison. Felicia Langer had conclusively proved her client’s innocence, and he himself affirmed that he was in the area of the explosion completely by chance. The friend who was with him was killed in the blast.3 5 8

23 November — The settlement of Yitav, established in 1973 to the north of Jericho. Construction of permanent dwellings goes ahead in this former Nahal outpost which became a civilian settlement in 1976. 24 private apartments are under construction, as well as a number of public buildings. The work is scheduled to be completed in five months’ time. The settlers want to move to a new site because they are disturbed by the military manoeuvres being carried in the vicinity.3 5 9

27 November — Attack on the girls’ school in Jalazoun Camp, near Ramallah. Members of the Gush Emunim settlement of Shilo burst into the school firing shots in the air. Eye-witnesses affirm that the attackers go round the school-yard at least ten times firing their weapons all the time. Two schoolgirls are injured by flying glass as the settlers smash 120 windows.360

29 November — Construction of industries in the West Bank. The daily Ha’aretz reports that the construction of new factories and workshops has been proceeding at a breakneck pace “these last weeks.” The area covered by these projects is some 40,000 m2. The Zionist occupation forces aim within “a few months” to double the area occupied by industrial buildings. The new projects, for which IL 400 million have been allocated, are going ahead in the settlements of Kiryat Arba’, Ma’alehEfraim,KarneiShomron, Shevi Shomron, ’Ofra, Tepuah, Kadumim, and El Kana. The operation is being particularly stepped up at ’Ofra and Ma’aleh Adumim ; in the other settlements the projects will be completed at a later date.3 61

29 November — Political repression. The military authorities refuse to register under the name of the Palestine Press Service the agency which Palestinian journalist Raymonda Tawil runs in East Jerusalem. The authorities notify her that the choice of this name is “insulting” and consti- tites a “public outrage.” Mrs. Tawil decides to instigate legal proceedings.362

357. Al-Quds, 7/11/79, p. 2. 358. Al-Ittihad, 23/10/79, p. 6 \al-Quds, 10/11/79, p. 4. 359. Davar, 23/11/79, p. 2. 360.International Herald Tribune, 14/12/79, p. 5. 361. Ha’aretz, 29/11/79, p. 1. 362. Le Monde, 2-3/12/79, p. 4.-

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3 December — Sentencing of students from Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, for their activities in the Resistance. Jamal Suleiman al-Fara, Suleiman ’Abu Rajleh, and ’Abdel Rahim ’Abu Khateb are condemned to prison terms ranging from eight to ten years.3 6 3

6 December — Establishment of Yafit, in the Jordan Valley. Settlers, who arrived from France at the beginning of September, have constructed a new settlement, Yafit, near the settlement of Patsa’el. The building of permanent dwellings is soon to start.3 6 4

10 December — Threatened demolition of al-Danaf Quarter in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem dailies al-Shaab and al-Fajr publish an appeal signed by 26 residents of the al-Danaf quarter in Jerusalem calling on the popular associations in the city to take action in order to halt the work being carried out in their quarter by Teddy Kollek’s municipality. The appeal maintains that their quarter is threatened by this operation.36 5

10 December — The case of the children of Jalazoun Camp. The occupation authorities arrest three girls from the camp, namely Intisar Husni Sheikh Qassein, Mariam Sa’id Muhammad, and Wafiqa Hassan Abdallah. “The three of them are the object of a vile campaign : they have been severely treated, persecuted, detained without trial and submitted to unrestrained and extremely painful torture in the period leading up to their detention,” writes Felicia Langer in a letter of protest she sends to the Minister of Defence.3 66 A correspondent for Le Monde testifies that he had seen Intisar’s legs covered with livid bruises from the hips to the knees.3 6 7 The three schoolgirls are eventually released after 13 days of detention on payment of IL 30,000 bail. They are ordered to appear before a military court to be tried on the following — fabricated — charges : throwing stones at military vehicles and the manufacture and use of Molotov cocktails.3 6 8 Their interrogators get away with a “reprimand.”3 69

11 December — Forthcoming establishment of Lebbonah northwest of Ramallah. A 500-dunum site for the establishment of this new settlement is marked out. Lebbonah will be built on “state-owned land” and will make up part of the “Gush Neveh Tsuf” complex, at present consisting only of the settlement of Neveh Tsuf itself.3 7 0 The work will be carried out under the supervision of the Jewish Agency Settlement Department.3 7 1

12 December — Health situation. The military authorities decide to reduce by 6% the budget for sanitary services in the occupied territories, and to

363. Al-Quds, 4/12/79, p. 5 ; Jerusalem Post, 5/12/79, p. 2. 364. Ma’ariv, 6/12/79, p. 19. 365. Al-Ittihad, 14/12/79, p. 1. 366. Al-Ittihad, 18/12/T9, p. 6. 367. Le Monde, 16-17/12/79, p. 4. 368. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 6. 369. Davar, 24/12/79, p. 1. 370. Ha’aretz, 11/12/79, p. 1. 271. Al-Hamishmar, 30/12/79, p. 7.

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impose a monthly increase of IL 250 on medical insurance.372 These measures come as an additional blow to an already parlous situation. In an interview accorded to al-Tali’a, Dr. Darwish Nazzal, Director of the Department of Internal Diseases in the al-Maqassed Hospital, affirms that the West Bank suffers a severe shortage of hospitals and clinics, insufficient medical personnel, a lack of specialists, inadequate equipment in the hospitals, and an inadequate supply of medicine. Dr. Nazzal adds that the budget allocated for health in the whole West Bank is only slightly more than that allocated to the Israeli Sha’ariyet Tseydeq Hospital in Jerusalem. Al-Tali’a publishes the following figures : In 1967 there were 16 hospitals with a total of 1,416 beds in the West Bank. In 1979 there are 17 hospitals with a total of 1,374 beds, or one bed for every 509 persons. In Gaza the situation is no better : In 1967 there were six hospitals with a total of 1,004 beds ; in 1979 there are 7 hospitals with a total of 1,030 beds, or one bed for every 446 persons.373

16 December - Settlement of Mighdal Oz : annexation of the lands of Beit Amer, in the Hebron region. The settlers of Mighdal Oz close off 600 dunums of land belonging to the villagers of Beit Amer and annex it to their settlement, cutting down trees and destroying crops in the process. The military authorities tell the villagers, who bring them a complaint concerning the settlers’ action, that they “know nothing” about the annexation.374

16 December — Attack on schoolgirls of Jalazoun Camp. Gush Emunim settlers from Beit El and ’Ofra chase a number of schoolgirls at the Camp’s secondary school under the pretext that stones were thrown at their cars as they passed by the camp. They capture one of the girls and hand her over to the military authorities. The military governor of the region retorts to the headmistress of the school who had come to complain about the attack, that she is the one who should be maintaining order in her school.3 7 5

18 December — The case of the family of Musa Rajoub, of the village of Dora in the Hebron region. One of the members of the family relates to a correspondent for al-Ittihad the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the father and mother of the family and one son without any charges being brought against them. Musa Rajoub (aged 55, father of six) was arrested on 15 December 1978 following an assault on his house by troops. Since that date, his family has had no news of him. The authorities have persisted in their refusal to give any details with regard to his whereabouts or the reasons for his arrest. Then, in November 1979, one of Musa Rajoub’s sons, a 20- year-old first-year student at Bethlehem University, was arrested as well. A few days later, Musa’s wife, Mariam, was arrested and taken to the al-Moscobiyeh prison in Jerusalem. No reason has been given for either of these arrests.

372. Al-Quds, 13/12/79, p. 4 ; al-Tali’a, No. 95, 27/12/79, p. 10. Til'S. Al-Tali’a, op. cit. 514. Al-Quds, 17/12/79. p. 1. 515. Al-Ittihad, 18/12/79, p. 1.

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In 1978, troops used to come regularly to the Rajoub house to carry out searches, in the course of which they caused considerable damage. Spreading terror in the household, they “interrogated” the youngest members of the family (aged between three and nine), bringing powerful lights close up to their faces. They used regularly to beat the members of the family, insulting them and abusing them. Never was any explanation given for this behaviour. The family of Musa Rajoub eventually called on Felicia Langer for help. They say that the only reason they have remained inactive until now is because of the repeated threats of the soldiers. Now that three members of the family have been imprisoned they say that they cannot possibly bear to remain silent, despite the threats.3 76

18 December — Aggression against the village of Beit Amer, near Hebron. The inhabitants of the village stage a symbolic funeral march for .Ibrahim Hafez, assassinated in Cyprus on December 15, and originally from the village* Israeli troops attack the march under the pretext that the funeral rites have turned into a “political demonstration,” and attempt to disperse the villagers with the use of tear gas and truncheons.3 7 7 Halhoul Mayor Muhammad Milhem states that the army prevented inhabitants of his town from joining the march in Beit Amer.3 7 8

18 December — Attack on Jalazoun camp. Israeli settlers attack the camp by night, smashing the headlights and windscreens of cars they find.3 79

18 December — Armed assault on Halhoul. Under the pretext that children and youths from the town have thrown stones at a bus, a number of settlers from Kiryat Arba’ attack the town of Halhoul, firing shots in the air, smashing car windscreens and shop-windows, and chasing small children.

The town’s population protests to the military authorities. The military governor reacts by sending in his troops to “punish” the town. The troops carry out a meticulous house-to-house search, conduct brutal interrogations and attack anyone who so much as raises his voice. Dozens of citizens are arrested on account of the fact that four settlers were injured when the people of the town resisted their incursion.3 80

19 December — Seizure at offices of Islamic Society, in Jerusalem. Officials of Teddy Kollek’s municipality attack the offices of this charitable society and confiscate a film projector on the grounds that the society has not paid its taxes. The administrative council of the Society sends a letter of protest to Teddy Kollek in which they denounce this violation of international laws and conventions. They remind him of his obligation under international law to respect the privileges the Islamic Society enjoys in view of its status as a non-profit making body. In view of this status, it is not obliged to pay any

376. Al-Ittihad, 18/12/79, p. 6. 377. Al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, p. 8. 378. Jerusalem Post, 19/12/79, p. 3. 379. Jerusalem Post, 20/12/79, p. 3. 380. Al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, p. 1.

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taxes, nor is any group or individual entitled to invade the premises without prior authorisation.38 1

20 December — Fraudulent deal at al-’Urub. The military authorities place on sale the wood they have chopped down in the forests on Common Land in the regions of ’Abu Sawad and al-Qarn, near the al-’Urub refugee camp. The two million Israeli pounds obtained in the auction goes to the Land Department of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet).382

20 December — Expropriation of land at Bal’in. The military governor of Ramallah issues a decree (N°. 34-79) ordering the expropriation of 500 dunums of land in the Wadi al-Malaqi region, attached to the village of Bal’in. He specifies that “the owners of the land should contact him because the expropriation has been carried out to make way for work in the public interest.”^83 On 31 December, the villagers of Bal’in deliver a memorandum to the military governor of Ramallah in which they denounce the expropriation of 1,000 — not 500 — dunums at al-Malaqi. They note that this land is either cultivated arable land or essential pasture for their flocks, and as such constitutes their sole source of livelihood. They affirm that they refuse to sell their land or accept any kind of compensation, as has been proposed. Finally, they demand that the expropriation order be annulled.384

20 December — Armed aggression against Bir Zeit University. Israeli troops break into the Bir Zeit girls’ school, where an academic ceremony is in progress. In a blatantly provocative gesture they raise an Israeli flag over the school building. The schoolgirls ask them to withdraw. When they refuse, the girls try to raise a Palestinian flag. The soldiers chase them and they take refuge in the university nearby. Students at the University oppose the entry of the troops on campus. The troops reply with tear gas and batons. Three students are injured, one with a broken arm. Six are arrested : Hanna Tahboub, Lina al-Masri, Hazem Qataniya, Yusef Tarifi, Hassan Dawouni, and Ghassan al-Khatib. Felicia Langer demands their immediate release, stressing that the soldiers were responsible for the incidents.38 5

On 22 December, the students of Bir Zeit demonstrate in protest against the arrest of their comrades. Soldiers burst onto the campus and violent clashes ensue. The Vice-President of the University, Gabi al-Baramki, is hit by a soldier,3 8 6 while many students are arrested. 8 7

On 23 December, a military spokesman announces that during the attack on the University, the troops had been acting under orders.3 8 8 In a letter of protest addressed to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Police, Gabi

381 .Al-Quds, 20/12/79, p. 2. 382. Al-Tali’a, No. 94, 20/12/79, p. 8. 383. Al-Quds, 20/12/79, p. 1. 384. Al-Quds, 1/1/80, p. 4. 385. Al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, p. 1 386. Le Monde, 25/12/79, p. 3. 1ST. Al-Quds, 23/12/79, p. 1. 388. Davar, 24/12/79, p. 1.

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Baramki denounces the aggression, which had also been directed against the academic staff, and draws attention to the fact that considerable material damage had been caused to the University buildings.3 8 9

On 24 December, the student and teaching body at the University go on strike as a mark of protest against the harassment to which the University has been exposed and which has resulted in 21 arrests and dozens of injured.39 0 Students at the universities of al-Najah, Bir Zeit and Bethlehem, and both government and UNRWA schools organise a meeting in Ramallah in solidarity with the students of Bir Zeit. Among the speakers at the meeting are Bassam al-Shak’a, Karim Khalaf, Ibrahim al-Tawil and Amin Shehadeh, Mayors of Nablus, Ramallah, al-Bireh and Bir Zeit respectively.391 Bassam al Siiak’a declares that for as long as the Israeli authorities refuse to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people they will use violence against us.”392

The meeting goes ahead in spite of the fact that the regional military governor had threatened to disperse it by force,39 3 and had expressly forbidden the Mayors of Nablus and al-Bireh to take part.394

On 27 December, the military court in Ramallah rejects a request made on behalf of her clients by Felicia Langer for the release of ten of the students arrested during the recent incidents. Mrs. Langer adds that the students had shown her traces of torture and beating on their bodies. Nevertheless, the court maintains that “in view of the gravity of the charges” against the students, it cannot give the order for their release.395

20 December — Death of Yasser Nafe’ ‘Abdel Razzaq al-Fa’ur, aged 29, detained for the last eight years in Bir al-Sabe prison.39^ In a motion tabled before the Knesset, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality3 9 7 affirms that “the cause of decease was the lack of medical care. The detainee, who was suffering from severe stomach pains, had asked the prison administration many times for permission to be examined by a doctor. On 20 December, by which time the pain had become unbearable, the administration could no longer afford to ignore his plight, and he was transported to hospital, where he died suddenly.”398

On 23 December, the Mayors of the West Bank publish in the Palestinian press of the region messages of condolences in which they salute the memory of a martyr.3 9 9

On 24 December, the political detainees of Bir al-Sabe5 prison stage a general strike in protest against the lamentable living conditions which

389. Al-Quds, 24/12/79, p. 2. 390. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 1. 391. Al-TalVa, No. 95, 27/12/79, p. 2. 392. Jerusalem Post, 25/12/79, p. 3. 393. Al-TalVa, op. cit. 394. Al-Ittihad, 28/12/79, p. 1. 395. Idem. 396. Le Monde, 25/12/79, p. 3. 397. The DFPE is a coalition between the Israeli Communist Party (Rakah), the Black Panthers organisation and independent Arab and Jewish bodies. 398 .Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 1. 399. Le Mondej op. cit.

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prevail in the prison, and to which Yasser al-Fa’ur fell victim.400 In an appeal to Arab and international public opinion, they call for intervention to put an end to the suffering which they are subjected to on account of the miserable and inhuman conditions of their detention, and to save the lives of 125 prisoners suffering from chronic ailments as a result of the harsh living conditions. The families of the Palestinian political detainees in Israeli prisons, together with various professional associations, address a memorandum to a number of international organisations and to world public opinion in general. They demand that the political detainees be treated in conformity with the relevant articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Then, after describing a number of incidents involving the prisoners they claim, among other things : “The formation of an international commission to visit the prisoners to examine the conditions in which they are detained and to push for the release of prisoners suffering from chronic illnesses, in particular those who have already served lengthy periods behind bars.401

21 December — Aggression on Duheisha Palestinian refugee camp, located near Bethlehem. Troops assault a number of houses in the camp and arrest ten young men. One of them, Ahmad Abbas, who had just been released from prison three months previously, asks why he is being re-arrested and savagely beaten for his pains. The furniture in his house is pillaged.402

21 December — Measures taken against leading figures in Gaza. The military authorities forbid several leadings figures in Gaza to go to the West Bank. The members of the municipal council declare that this restriction is part of the general plan to impose “administrative autonomy” on this region. They reiterate that the population has opposed this scheme from the outset.403

22 December - Aggression against the Arab Employees Club in Jerusalem. “Unidentified elements” break into the premises and destroy all that they can lay hands on. Representatives of national and social associations go directly to the Club and demonstrate in protest against the vandalistic attack.404

23 December — Arrests in Ramallah. The Israeli security forces announce that 30 Palestinians from Ramallah have been arrested in the last week.405

23 December — Ban on National Guidance Committee meeting.40 6 The meeting, which was to have been held in Beit Hanina was scheduled to discuss measures to be taken to put an end to the aggressions against the

400. Al-Tali’a, No. 96, 3/1/80, p. 2. 401. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79. p. 3. 402. Al-Ittihad, 28/12/79, p. 1. 403. Al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, p. 1. 404. Al-Quds, 24/12/79, p. 4. 405 .Al-Tali’a, N°. 95, 27/12/79, p. 1. 406. The NGC, established in 1978, is made up of mayors and other leading political figures.

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population. The meeting is banned on the grounds that its organisers had not requested prior authorisation.40 7 However, the Palestinian figures involved in the Committee note that even if such a request had been made the authorities would have rejected it out of hand.4 0 8

25 December — Establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip. Groundwork is in progress over a vast area in the south of the Gaza Strip with the aim of preparing land for the establishment of nine new settlements. Israeli television gives some coverage of these developments, but the names of the settlements are not revealed.409

25 December — Sentencing of detainees from Gaza. They are : Tareq ‘Abdel Shafi’, two years, one of which is suspended ; Rajab al-Sourani, lawyer, sentenced to five years, two of which are suspended ; Musa Zuhair Sournai, son of the Judge of the Supreme Religious Court in Gaza, sentenced to four years, two of which are suspended. The military court in Gaza sentences them on charges of belonging to the Resistance.4 10

25 December — Threat of land expropriation in Jerusalem. The municipality of Teddy Kollek draws up two projects (Nos. 2591 and 2639) envisaging the expropriation of vast tracts of land in the Sheikh Jarrah and Wadi al-Joz quarters of the city. This measure is designed to allow the creation of “green zones” and “public gardens”.411 The Arab Chamber of Commerce issues a memorandum in which it affirms that these two projects constitute “an attack on the rights of the owners of the land to be seized, since under the pretext of carrying out development work, they intend to expropriate the land of private property owners.”

“Moreover,” the memorandum goes on, “these projects disguise clearly political motives and objectives aiming to increase the pressure on the Arab population by expropriating vast tracts of land without the remotest consideration for the interests of the 100,000 Arab citizens of Jerusalem.” The memorandum recalls that in the past the Israeli authorities had created “green zones” over most of a large part of Sha’fat and Beit Hanina. They had forbidden any construction on these expropriated tracts of land.4 12

25-26 December — Curfew on Duheisha Camp, near Bethlehem. A large contingent of troops invades the camp. Loud-hailers order all those aged between 14 and 65 to assemble in the central square. A house-to-house search is conducted in brutal fashion. From midnight until ten o’clock the next morning the people are kept standing in the rain. According to what the troops say the military governor of the region is supposed to arrive on a visit. Those who protest are summarily punished by having to stand in the

407. Ha’aretz, 25/12/79, p. 1. 408. Jerusalem Post, 24/12/79, p. 2. 409. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 2. 410. Al-Ittihad, 25/12/79, p. 2. All. Al-Ittihad, 28/12/79, p. 8. 412. Al-Tali’a No. 95, 27/12/7*9, p. 2.

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drainage ditches.4 13 The governor finally arrives and issues a threat that more reprisals will be taken against the camp if the young people persist in throwing stones at Israeli vehicles. The people are allowed to go back to their houses after 70 of their number are arbitrarily taken off for interrogation. Inhabitants of the camp tell a correspondent for al-Ittihad that the occupation forces have been harassing and provoking them for no reason for the last two months. One example of this is the fact that no administrative services such as travel permits have been accorded them.4 1 4

Israeli radio reports on 26 December that the aggression against the camp comes within the scope of recent decisions taken by the military authorities to adopt radical methods “to put a stop to the activities of troublema¬ kers.”4 15

26 December — The case of the detainees in Hebron prison. Attorney ’Abed Assaly visits a number of political detainees in the prison, including ’Ali Abu Hilal, Muhammad al-Labadi and Nimr Ziyadeh (from the village of Abu Deis). All three have been under administrative detention since 2 August. The committee in charge of administrative detainees decides to charge them with belonging to the Resistance. ’Abed Assaly protests vigorously, affirming that they were arrested for political reasons, and he demands their immediate release4 1 6

27-28 - Repression in Duheisha, for the second time in three days. Nearly 200 males of the camp, including boys aged twelve, are taken on foot to the military government HQ in Bethlehem, where they are beaten, insulted and tortured. They are threatened that the camp’s water and electricity will be cut off. Some of them are released, but many are kept under detention.4 17

27 December — Infringement of freedom of association. The request of the teachers and professors of the Ramallah region for a permit to create a teachers’ union is rejected.418

27 December — Measures taken against teachers in the Gaza Strip. Under the pretext that the level of success among their students is no more than 60%, the military authorities decide not to award teachers primary, complementary and secondary diplomas.4 19

27 December — Expropriation at Beit Amer, in the Hebron region. Speaking in the name of the villagers affected by the seizure, Saqr ’Aqab Abu ’Ayash declares that the area in question, Breykout, is under cultivation and that the villagers have refused the compensation offered them. He affirms that the

413. AI-Hamishmar, 31/12/79, p. 1 ; al-Ittihad, 28/12/79, p. 1. 414. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 415. Idem. 416. Idem. All .Al-Ittihad, 4/1/80, p. 1. 418. Al-TalVa, No. 95, 27/12/79, p. 3. 419. Al-TalVa, No. 95, 27/12/79, p. 4.

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authorities having considered paying compensation is proof enough that the land is not wasteland unfit for agriculture. He notes that the economy of the village of Beit Amer, renowned for its fruit, is in danger of being seriously affected. Moreover, the landowners possess documents attesting to their rights to their property. Under these circumstances, the expropriation carried out for alleged “security reasons” can only harm the people of the village.4 2 0

29 December — Redundancies in the department of agriculture. Under the pretext of implementing austerity policies, the military authorities terminate the employment of specialists and other staff of the department of agriculture in the Hebron region. Hebron Mayor Fahd Qawasmeh sends a memorandum protesting this move to the regional military governor. He affirms that the cuts would save only a maximum of one million Israeli pounds a year. This sum, Qawasmeh goes on, compared to the IL 300 million allocated for the creation of illegal settlements, is so trifling as to make rescinding the measure an expediency. Instead of seeking to prejudice agriculture, it would be far better to reallocate the sums devoted to colonisation, he says. Meanwhile, well informed sources have announced that the authorities intend soon to close the agricultural laboratory at al-Qroub, as well as the greenhouses in Wadi al-Qaf, near the village of al-Tarqumaya, and the al-Bireh Agricultural Station in the village of al-Dhahiriyeh.4 21

30 December — Health Conditions in Hebron. The Government Hospital in Hebron, the only one in a region with over 130,000 inhabitants, is suffering a severe shortage of medicine. The military authorities prevent the municipality from providing the necessary supplies. The authorities previously affirmed that they will take care of the matter, however nothing transpires despite repeated requests.42 2

End of December — Attack on Christian Religious Institutions in Jerusalem. “A group of youths break into the Christian Information Centre in the Old City and start tearing down the Christmas decorations. The priests trying to stop them are abused. Threatening letters are addressed to convents. Some of these actions seem to be the doing of militants of the Rabbi Meir Kahane’s group.” According to this group, the Palestinian people in the occupied territories should get out of “The Land of Israel.”42 3

2. Galilee and Negev

17 January — The case of Ikrit and Kafr Bir’im. Speaking before the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee, Sharon inadvertently reveals that the ministerial committee on Ikrit and Kafr Bir’im had decided

420. Al-Quds, 27/12/79, p. 4. 421. Al-Quds, 30/12/79, p. 4. 422. Al-Quds, 31/12/79, p. 4, 423. Le Monde, 9/2/80, p. 3.

and 28/12/79, p. 4.

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four months earlier to oppose the return of the inhabitants of these two villages, from which they were driven out by troops thirty years ago.1

On 17 February, around 300 Palestinians from Ikrit and Kafr Bir’im are prevented by the army from planting trees in their respective villages to mark the occasion of the Tree Festival. Troops bar their way under the pretext that the area has been declared a “closed zone.”2

29 January — Expropriation at Yarka in Galilee. The decision to expropriate 560 dunums of land at Yarka is taken on 29 Jaunary. However, the owners of the land are not informed of this decision until April, by which time the two months period of grace, during which they are entitled to either “prove” their rights to ownership or request compensation, has already elapsed.3

29 January — Expropriation at Kawkab in Galilee. The process of expropriation is exactly the same as in the case of Yarka. The 442 dunums of land seized are to be used for the establishment of new settlements in accordance with the colonisation plans for the Negev region. The owners have rejected any compensation and have refused to accept other land in exchange.4

8 February — Arrest of the President of the Arab Students Committee at the University of Haifa. The committee had just organised a meeting, attended by some 50 Palestinian students at the University, to protest against the imposition of house arrest on six students of the “Progressive National Movement.” This measure was taken against them because on January 17 they sent a cable to the Palestine National Congress meeting in Damascus in which they affirmed their unconditional support for the PLQ.5

12 February - Establishment of Shey’oun. This new Nahal settlement is established on Mt. Dovet and will be dependent on the “regional kibbutz.” Pre-fabricated houses are installed on the site, with a plastics factory planned. 500 dunums of land on the settlement will be devoted to an avocado orchard.6

14 February — Expropriation at Tel al-Maleha. This measure affects 80,000 dunums belonging to the Juma’ir, ’Ammar and ’Aqraniyeh Bedouin tribes, comprising a total of 10,000 members.7

On 14 February7, the Sheikhs of the Bedouin tribes of the Negev address a letter of protest to the Israeli Defence Minister against the work going ahead at Tel al-Maleha on the ’Arad road for the construction of a military air base. They affirm that this work, which is being undertaken without their

1. Jerusalem Post, 18/1/79, p. 3. 2. Haaretz, 18/2/79, p. 6. 3. Al-Ittihad, 24/4/79, p. 6 ;Haaretz, 30/4/79, p. 4. 4. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. / Davar, 29/4/79, p. 2. 5. Le Monde, 23/1/79, p. 7 ; Davar, 9/2/79, p. 2. 6. Davar, 12/2/79, p. 2. 1. Haaretz, 25/3/79, p. 6 \ al-Ittihad, 10/4/79, p. 1.

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permission on cultivated land belonging to them, not only threatens their crops with destruction but also has dire consequences for their future, inasmuch as it provides a concrete indication of the government’s resolve to drive the Bedouin off their land and resettle them in neighbouring regions. They remind the Minister of their inalienable right to be the sole masters of their fate and they demand that the work be halted before they become faced with a fait accompli.8

21 February — Expulsion at Akbara village, four km. from Safad. The 500 inhabitants of the village refuse to abide by an order to evacuate their village. It had been decided to transfer them to the villages of Jash and al-Rameh under the pretext that they lacked the necessary funds for the development of their own village.9

16 March — Green Patrol aggression. In a “lightning operation” ordered by Patrol commander Alon Galili a Green Patrol Squad sets fire to the tents of Bedouin in the ‘Arad region and burns their belongings. The Bedouin affirm that this is one of the most savage operations ever to be launched against them.1 0

March — Establishment of ten ’settlement outposts’ in Galilee. The construction of access roads to ten new settlement outposts begins in March. These outposts are part of a plan drawn up by Ra’anan Weitz to establish 30 new settlement outposts in the region by February 1980. The final objective of this project is to ensure that there should not one day arise “a problem of the Arabs of Galilee and the question of their autonomy.” When the whole plan has been implemented, 300,000 dunums of land will have been “closed off.” The cost of this plan is estimated at IL 300 million. Each year, five to eight of the outposts will be transformed into permanent settlements.11

4 April — Construction of Lagiya, a town designed for the forcible resettlement of the (sedentary) Bedouin expelled from their land, seized to make way for the construction of military installations. On 4 April work begins on 400 dunums of land belonging to Suleiman Abu al-Qarn. This site is part of a total area of 3,000 dunums of land expropriated 18 months previously (the expropriation order was issued in 1975). On 4 and 5 April, violent clashes take place between the local population and the police. Women and children throwing stones at the bulldozers are savagely attacked and beaten up.

On 31 December, the Bir al-Sabe’ district court rejects the landowners’ appeal and orders them to evacuate the site to make way for the

8. The higher committee in charge of Bedouin affairs has just announced that the Finance Ministry has approved a budget of IL 115 million for the resettlement of the Bedouin to be expelled from the area. Ma’ariv, 16/2/79, p. 3. 9. Al-Hamishmar, 21/2/79, p. 7. 10. Ha’aretz, 18/3/79, p. 3. 11. Davar, 26/3/79, p. 3 ; Al-Hamishmar, 10/4/79, p. 2 ; Ma’ariv, 21/6/79, p. 6 ; Ha’aretz, 10/7/79, p. 3.

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construction of Lagiya in the vicinity of Lohav kibbutz. The court’s decision annuls the interim injunction issued in April and allows work on the site to go ahead.12

2 May — Establishment of ’Mount Ziv 19’ settlement outpost, three km. to the west of the village of Mi’ilya in Galilee. On 2 May, settlers from Ophira (a Gush Emunim settlement situated in Sharm al-Sheikh) come to take possession of plots of land belonging to the village of Mi’ilya. The local population drives them away, and on 3 May they hold a large gathering to protest against the settlers’ incursion and also stage a general strike. Jewish National Fund bulldozers arrive in the village on 10 June to level the ground for the construction of an access road to ‘Mount Ziv 19’, but the local population repulses them and a second was gathering is held in the village on 12 June. At a press conference held on 26 June, the President of the local council, Elias Liyus affirms the determination of the villagers to prevent the seizure of their land.

On 5 and 9 July, violent clashes take place between the villagers and troops protecting the bulldozers which have come to resume the ground clearing work. (On 9 July, nine policemen and border guards are injured, along with eight of the local population. 51 villagers, including women, are arrested.) In a communique issued on July 9, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality strenuously denounces the repeated aggressions against Mi’ilya. A vast movement of solidarity and support is organised in the other villages of Galilee and in Acre in response to an appeal by the Regional Lands Defence Committee.

On 31 July, the first pre-fabricated houses are set up at the new settlement outpost.13

3 May - Expropriation at Yarka and Deir al-Asad villages near Acre. The 116 dunums of land expropriated are to be used for the expansion of the Tefen industrial zone.14

4 May — Arrest of eight Galilee Palestinians suspected of belonging to an organisation of the Resistance.15

14 May - Establishment of the town of Mod’in on a rocky plateau situated to the west of Ramallah. Some 350 families arrive to take possession of the tractors and caravans brought onto the site before dawn. These families are the first of a number of nuclei for the new town comprising 800 families in all. The Hashav (Zionist Construction Groups) movement, which is responsible for the founding of Modi’in, envisages the establishment of an

12. The Guardian, 6/4/79, p. 6 ; al-Ittihad, 6/4/79, p. 1 \Le Monde, 7/4/79, p. 6 ; New York Times 11/4/79, p. 3 ; Jerusalem Post, 1/1/80, p. 2. 13. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 1 ; 12/6/79, p. 6 ; 15/6/79, p. 8 ; 29/6/79, p. 8 ; 6/7/79, p. 1 ; 10/7/79 p. 1 ; Haaretz, 27/6/79, p. 5, and 16/7/79, p. 5 ; The Economist, 14/7/79, p. 54 ; Jerusalem Post 1/8/79, p. 3. 14. Jerusalem Post, 3/5/79, p. 3 ; Davar, 18/6/79, p. 6. 15. International Herald Tribune, 5-6/5/79, p. 1.

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industrial, cultural and medical centre straddling the “Green Line.” This centre is to serve the whole of this “abandoned region” which constitutes the axis of the plateau stretching over both sides of the “Green Line.” Hashav bases its claim to be entitled to build this centre on the fact that the 80,000 dunums of land in the region decreed by the Housing Ministry as being unsuitable for agricultural settlement could be used for the construction of an industrial and urban complex.16 It should be noted that the five-year settlement plan drawn up by Drobless specifies that Gush Modi’in will be made up of six settlements “on either side of the Green Line.”17

24 May — Establishment of ’Atzmon and Esh’har. These two Nahal settle¬ ments are built on land expropriated from the inhabitants of the Galilee village of Sakhnin.1 8

24 May — Arrest of six Palestinians from the village of Umm al-Fahm, southeast of Haifa. They are accused of being members of the Abna’ al-Balad (Sons of the Village)1 9 a pro-PLO Palestinian movement.

May — Mass arrest of members of the Progressive National Movement, a Palestinian students organisation. The arrested students are accused of being affiliated to a “hostile organisation.”20 The Arab Students Union issues a communique denouncing these arbitrary arrests.2 1

13 July — Discrimination against Arab schools. The Ministry of Education and Culture announces that it is blocking funds destined for the secondary school in the village of Kafr Yassif on the grounds that the regional council of the village has been interfering in the internal affairs of the school. The president of the council, Nimr Marqus issues a strenuous protest2 2 against this discriminatory measure.

31 July — Demolition of a house in the village of al-Ba’neh. Members of the al-8awwad tribe, to whom the house belongs, offer fierce resistance to the demolition team and their police escort. Ten of them are arrested, seven of them women. Their property is situated near 20,000 dunums of land which the government intends to expropriate in accordance with the previous government’s decision announced on 19 February 1976. This particular decision was behind the general strike in March 1976 known as the Day of Land.23

9 August — Discrimination against Arab schools. Funds allocated for the

16. Ma’ariv, 15/5/79, p. 1. 17. Cf. Section A, p. 16. 18. Jerusalem Post, 25/5/79, p. 3. 19. Jerusalem Post, 25/5/79, p. 2. 20. Jerusalem Post. 31/5/79, p. 2. 21 .Al-Ittihad, 29/5/79, p. 3. 22. Al-Ittihad, 3/7/79, p. 8 ; 17/7/79, p. 6. 23. Jerusalem Post, 1/8/79, p. 3 ; Al-Ittihad, 3/8/79, p. 8.

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construction of new Arab schools are blocked. The secretariat of the Regional Committee of local council presidents threatens to declare a general strike in Arab schools at the beginning of the next scholastic year.24

15 August — Discrimination against the municipality of Nazareth. The municipal council of Nazareth is allocated IL 134 million for the 1979-80 fiscal year, instead of the IL 196 million which it needs.2 5

28 September — Aggression against two young Palestinians, Ahmad Mustafa Hassuna and Mahmoud Muhammad Hajj Yunis. Finding themselves by chance in the Suq al-Carmel (market in Tel Aviv) when an explosion occurs, they are so savagely beaten up by border guards that they lose conscious¬ ness.2 6

21 October — Expropriation at Jatt. Over 40 settlers invade the land of Farid al-Abbas in the village of Jatt and proceed to plant some olive trees. Their objective is to expand their settlement outpost established on the land of the nearby village of Abu Sanan.2 7

1 November - Arrest of 50 Palestinians on suspicion of their involvement in an operation carried out by a Palestinian commando unit against a train near Tel Aviv.28

8 November — Dismissal of a teacher, Musleh Kana’ineh of the Arrabeh secondary school, for political reasons. Students at the school demonstrate in protest.2 9

16 November - Arbitrary detention of Muhareb Mahmoud. A former leader of the Progressive National Movement, he is arrested on returning from abroad where he was continuing his studies. No charges are brought against him.30

3 December - Arrest of 30 Palestinians following a commando operation in Asqalan.3 1

25 December - Judaisation of the village of Deir Yassin,32 west of Jeru¬ salem. It is given the name ‘Harnov’.3 3

24. Al-Ittihad, 10/8/79, p. 8. 25. Al-Ittihad, 17/8/79, p. 8. 26. Al-Ittihad, 9/10/79, p. 6. 27. Al-Ittihad, 23/10/79, p. 1. 28. Jerusalem Post. 2/11/79, p. 1. 29. Al-Ittihad, 9/11/79, p. 8. 30. The Guardian, 1/12/79, p. 10. 31. Jerusalem Post, 4/12/79, p. 1. 32. That Begin’s government should Judaise this village is no coincidence. The massacre of the popu¬ lation of Deir Yassin on the night of 9 to 10 April, 1948 was carried out by the Irgun, whose leader was none other than Menahem Begin. Some 350 people (men, women and children) were killed in the most brutal fashion (Testimony of Jacques de Reynier, "A Jerusalem un drapeau flottait sur la ligne de jeu ”). 33. Al-Ittihad, 27/12/79, p. 4.

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3. Golan

12 February — Construction of a road, 6 km. long, linking Yahudit to the Kutsfiya intersection on the Golan Heights and leading to Katzrin. Work on the road, which began eight months ago, has just been completed.1

27 February — Demolition of a house in the village of Mas’adeh. A large force of troops led by the Military Governor of the Golan in person demolishes the house of ’Aref Salim al-Safadi on the grounds that it was built on land in the charge of the Custodian of Absentee Property. However, al-Safadi possesses documents testifying to his rights of ownership of the land in question.2

31 March — House arrest of Sheikh Ahmad al-Qadmani, for the second year running. Troops storm his house and take him to the military government headquarters, where he is given a warning and ordered to give a regular account of his actions and statements.3

1 May — House arrest imposed on Nazih Abu Fayad of Majdel Shams for one year. The military forbid him to even cultivate his own land, which provides the sole source of livelihood for his family of five.4

10 June — Establishment of the “Golan regional council”. Involving 24 agricultural settlements, this council will have authority over most of the territory of the Golan. “This is the first time that Israeli legislation has been totally applied to one of the (occupied) territories, and this council, with regard to its municipal powers, is on the same footing as the municipalities inside Israel,” declares Meir Sharar, Director-General of the Interior Ministry, at a ceremony held to mark the official inauguration of the council. Over 3,500 settlers will be dependent on the council.5

25 July — Forthcoming establishment of a local council at Katzrin. An appointed local council will be established by the government at Katzrin, the only urban settlement in the Golan. In its preliminary stage, it will comprise seven members, four representing the settlers and three government officials.6

15 August — Settlement of Har Odem, established in 1976 in the north of the Golan. Several settlers who have moved into temporary quarters near the settlement will take possession of their permanent dwellings next summer.7

1. Davar, 12/2/79, p. 2. 2. Al-Ittihad, 6/3/79, p. 6. 3. Al-Ittihad, 6/4/79, p. 8. 4. Al-Ittihad, 18/5/79, p. 2. 5. Ila'aretz, 11/6/79, p. 3 \al-lttihad, 12/6/79, p. 1 \Davar, 20/6/79, p. 8. 6. Ila’aretz, 25 jl 119, p. 8. 7. Jerusalem Post, 16/8/79, p. 2.

105

21 August — House Arrest imposed on Munir Abu Fadel of Majdel Shams for the second year running.8

18 October — Construction of an irrigation canal to the south of the Golan. Starting from the al-Hummeh springs, this canal will irrigate avocado plantations and cotton fields in settlements on the eastern slopes of the plateau. In the first phase it will provide eight million m3. Three 950 h.p. pumping stations will pump the water from a depth of 170m. to an elevation of 400 m. The new installation will join the canal coming from Lake Tiberias and which supplies the southern Golan settlements.9

4 December — Construction of housing units. Adressing the parliamentary finance committee, Sharon says that 250 housing units are under construction in the Golan.10

30 December — Agricultural settlements. Amos Herbaz, director of the governorate of the Golan and the North of the Jewish Agency Settlement Department, announces that the work currently in progress in 31 agricultural settlements in the Golan is on the point of completion. This work is designed to allow the implantation of 100 families in each settlement. These families will each have 35 dunums of land at their disposal, and each settlement will be supplied with 18,000 m3 of water. Herbaz reveals that during 1978 5,000 dunums of land were taken over in the Golan. 2,000 dunums were planted with fruit trees, the rest being devoted to other crops.11

C - THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

The struggle of the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip against the Zionist occupation throughout 1979 focused on the administrative autonomy plan, which they consistently and unanimously rejected. Showing an increasing political maturity, the Palestinians of these territories time and again affirmed their determination to realise their inalienable rights in the course of their specific struggles against Judaisation of the Holy Places, expropriation, colonisation and all the other practices discussed in the previous section. Their struggle, which took various forms, including demonstrations, strikes, popular congresses and communiques, often found a source of support and solidarity in the Palestinians of the Galilee. Signifi¬ cantly, when the Galilee Palestinians demonstrated with their comrades in the Negev against the massive expropriations in that region, it was in the context of proclaiming their commitment to the legitimate rights of the

8. Al-Ittihad, 21/8/79, p. 2. 9. Hatsofeh, 19/10/79, p. 9. 10. Al-Hamishmar, 5/12/79, p. 8. 11. Davar, 31/12/79, p. 7.

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Palestinian people, including the right to establish an independent state under the leadership of the PLO.

5 January — Struggle to safeguard the al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. On 5 January, the first Friday after the aggression by Kiryat Arba’ settlers against the al-Ibrahimi Mosque,1 some 4,000 Palestinians from all over the occupied territories join in performing the Friday prayers in the Mosque in a renewed demonstration of their absolute determination to prevent the desecration and Judaisation of their Holy Places.2

On 20 January, the Supreme Islamic Council issues a communique in Jerusalem denouncing the decision taken by the government two days before to allow Jews the right to pray in the Crypt of Isaac. The communique affirms : “Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967 there have been repeated acts of aggression committed against the al-Ibrahimi Mosque. These acts began with the visits made by Jews to the Mosque, but over time their nature has changed. The Tomb of Abraham was occupied ; objects such as tables and bookcases for Jewish prayer books have been brought into the Mosque ; the Tomb of Jacob was occupied, and other parts of the Mosque were similarly profaned.”3

That day, Gush Emunim settlers hold their first prayers in the Crypt of Isaac, attended by West Bank Military Governor Ben Eliezer. They are protected by a large number of troops.4

On 2 February, several hundred people participate in prayers at the Mosque as a sign of protest against the decision taken by the government on 18 January to allow Jews to pray in the Crypt of Isaac. Thousands more Palestinians are barred access to the Mosque by the military authorities, who declare the premises of the Mosque a “forbidden zone.” A delegation of mayors and municipal councillors and leading personalities from all over the West Bank, together with national figures from East Jerusalem, are turned back at the entrance to Hebron. Taking part in this novel form of national protest are Bassam al-8hak’a, Mayor of Nablus, Sheikh Hilmi al-Muhtasib, President of the Supreme Islamic Council, and Sheikh Sa’deddin al-’Alami, Mufti of Jerusalem. They stop in Halhoul, where the Mayor of the town, Muhammad Hassan Milhem, has been detained since morning in order to prevent any protest meeting from taking place. Meanwhile, Hebron Mayor Fahd al-Qawasmeh receives an order to cancel the press conference to which he had invited foreign correspondents in order to inform them about the desecration of the al-Ibrahimi Mosque. Hundreds of those who attended the prayers are arrested.5

Despite the checkpoints and the general repression, the national forces in the occupied territories manage to hold a congress in Hebron. Bassam

1. On 30 December 1978, some 300 Kiryat Arba settlers burst into the Crypt of the Patriarchs in the Mosque. This attack was one in a series designed to transform this Muslim Holy Place into a syna¬ gogue. 2. Jerusalem Post, 12/1/79, p. 2. 3. Al-Ittihad, 23/1/79, p. 1, and 26/1/79, p. 2. 4. Ma’ariv, 21/1/79, p. 6. 5. Davar, 4/2/79, p. 1 ; Jerusalem Post, 4/2/79, p. 2.

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al-Shak’a succeeds in reaching the town, although it is encircled by Israeli troops. The national forces make use of the occasion to reiterate their condemnation of solutions of surrender, and specifically Camp David and all its consequences. They further denounce the Israeli occupation authorities’ policy of demolition of houses, land expropriation, the establishment of settlements, the desecration of Holy Places, and the policy of reprisals against muncipal and village councils.6

31 January-11 February — Demonstrations in the Ramallah region against land expropriation and the demolition of houses.7 Schoolchildren in Ramallah burn tyres and throw stones at military vehicles to protest against the expropriation of 3,000 dunums of land and the demolition of four houses in the area. A large number of the students are arrested.8 From 1 February on, the movement gathers momentum with demonstrations continuing in Ramallah9 and spreading to the whole region. On 3 February, a number of schools declare themselves on strike.1 0

On the next day, hundreds of schoolchildren hold a three-hour demonstra¬ tion in Ramallah. They bum tyres, throw stones at military vehicles and shout anti-occupation slogans. The Palestinian flag is raised to the accom¬ paniment of the national anthem in one of the schools. A curfew is imposed on the town.

In Halhoul, secondary school students hold a demonstration in the course of which they throw stones at a bus coming from Jerusalem. Fourteen of them are arrested and ordered to appear before a military tribunal.11

On 5 February, shopkeepers in both towns go on strike in implicit support of the students who continue their demonstrations, erecting barricades, burning tyres and throwing stones. The 40 students arrested over the past few days are quickly tried and sentenced by military courts. School head¬ masters are once more officially notified that the demonstrations must cease.1 2

However, school students in Ramallah and al-Bireh ignore the threats and consolidate their movement.13 They gain support from students elsewhere in the West Bank as on February 7 the secondary schools in Bir Zeit and the village of al-Ram go on strike, while students at the al-Ibra- himiyeh faculty in East Jerusalem organise a sit-in as a sign of solidarity. Meanwhile, a major search operation is undertaken by the Israeli occupation forces in al-Jalazoun Camp, where a curfew has been imposed following the stoning of vehicles by young Palestinians who had been fired on by Israeli soldiers. Clashes between schoolchildren and soldiers occur in the al-Ma’ari Camp whose secondary school — the ‘Ramallah School’ — has been closed since the beginning of the week. The secondary schools of Ramallah, al-Bireh

6. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 3. 7. Cf. Section B, p. 42. 8. Davar, 1/2/79, p. 2. 9. Davar, 2/2/79, p. 2. 10. Davar, 4/2/79, p. 2. 11 .Ma’ariv, 5/2/79, p. 4. 12. Al-Ittihad, 6/2/79, p. 1. 13. Jerusalem Post, 7/2/79, p. 3.

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and Halhoul are ordered closed by military decree.14 On 11 February, demonstrations resume in Sha’fat, Ramallah, Jericho and

Qalandya Camp, north of Jerusalem, in the course of which anti-occupation pamphlets are distributed. The demonstrations are violently suppressed.15

8-29 March — Uprising in West Bank and Gaza against Carter’s visit and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. The popular uprising which swept the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the occasion of US President Carter’s visit to Israel on 10 March and the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty on 26 March was characterised by an uninterrupted series of demonstrations by school students. The communiques published following the two national congresses held in Jerusalem, and the declaration issued in the name of the national organisations in the West Bank, reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and condemned in violent terms “the separate Egyptian- Israeli agreement.” This intensive political activity went on despite The repression by the security forces, aided and abetted by the armed militias of the Gush Emunim.

The uprising, which broke out on 10 March, was preceded by declarations by the mayors denouncing US policy toward the Palestine question.

On 8 March, Ramallah Mayor Karim Khalaf declares : “History is there before us to show that any attempt to resolve the conflict without the participation of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, is doomed to failure. It seems that once again Carter is trying to reach a solution ignoring the PLO. It doesn’t need a prophet to tell us that this new attempt is also doomed to failure.”1 6

Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a denounces a “policy directed against the peoples of the region, in particular the Palestinian people and the right to self-determination.”1 7

On 10 March, violent demonstrations are staged throughout the West Bank, in defiance of the stepped up security measures and attempts to intimidate the mayors. A school and commercial strike is observed in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Halhoul. The demonstrators in Ramallah, Bir Zeit and Bethlehem are dispersed by soldiers firing their weapons. In the shooting by the troops in Ramallah, a number of students are wounded (Nayef Lidawi is hospitalised) and many are arrested. At Bir Zeit University students hold political meetings and distribute a communique denouncing the separate treaty between Egypt and Israel, the autonomy plan and colonisation. The military spokesman merely comments that it was “a normal day with student troubles.”1 8

11 March — West Bank Communique. The mayors, professional and workers’ associations, charitable societies, and national figures in the West Bank issue a communique denouncing Carter’s visit to the region. They affirm that it is

14. Al-Ittihad, 9/2/79, p. 1. 15. Davar, 12/2/79, p. 2; al-Ittihad, 13/2/79. p. 1. 16. Ma'ariv, 31/3/79, p. 7. 17. Le Monde, 10/3/79, p. 5. 18. Ha'aretz, 11/3/79, p. 2\Ma’ariv, 11/3/79, p. l\Davar, 11/3/79, p. 2; al-Ittihad, 13/3/79, p. 1.

109

“merely one episode in the conspiracy against our people which took on a new impetus beginning with Sadat’s initiative and moving on to the Camp David accords and the subsequent meetings at Leeds Castle, Blair House and elsewhere... peace can only be achieved by according the Palestinian people their right to the establishment of their independent state on their territory under the leadership of the PLO.”19

Tension in the region continues to rise, as schools in the Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin and Bethlehem areas remain on strike. Border guards storm the schools clubbing the students with their batons. A large number of students are arrested and some of them are forced to dismantle barricades of stones. According to preliminary estimates, seven schoolchildren are badly injured as a result of the savage repressive measures. On the Jerusalem-’Ofra road, in the village of Sanjal, in Halhoul, Jenin and Nablus, schoolchildren make use of their traditional weapon, namely throwing stones. The most serious incident of the day occurs in Ramallah, where the main secondary school in the town is attacked by soldiers who fire off their weapons and detonate tear-gas grenades. One student is hit by a bullet, and there are numerous broken limbs, as the soldiers hit out left and right with their batons, striking even the teachers. The teaching staff and the principal of the school and the director of educational services in the Ramallah region resign as a mark of protest.20 The 17 students arrested are maltreated in custody and quickly sentenced.21 The military authorities order the closure of the Ramallah school and the boys’ secondary school in Bethlehem2 2 and they forbid the mayors of the West Bank to participate in protest meetings to which they have been invited by the Universities of Bethlehem and Bir Zeit.2 3

In Gaza, school students stick patriotic posters on the walls of their schools and write anti-Carter graffiti.2 4

On 12 March, a similar series of incidents occurs for the third day running. Curfews are imposed on Bir Zeit and Ramallah, and schools closed in Bethlehem, Qalandya and Beit Sahour.2 5 At Bir Zeit, “following the banning of a meeting organised by students, some 600 young Palestinians gather in the streets shouting nationalist slogans and denouncing the peace treaty and the pax americana in general.” Troops fire on the students, wounding four of them. A curfew is immediately clamped on the town. Dozens of students and schoolchildren are arrested. The soldiers finally order the Muezzin of the town to call out to the inhabitants to assemble in the central square for interrogation.2 6

In Ramallah, where most of the shops are closed, demonstrations are dispersed by troops using tear-gas. The mayors of the district issue a com¬ munique denouncing the measures taken the day before against the students and teachers at the boys’ secondary school.

19 Al-Ittihad, 13/3/79, p. 1, and 20/3/79, p. 2. Cf. Documents A, p. 135 for text of the communique. 20. Ha’aretz, 12/3/79, p. 8\al-lttihad, 13/3/79, p. 1 \Le Monde, 13/3/79, p. 4, and 14/3/79, p. 3. 21. Cf. Section B, p. 50. 22. Ha’aretz, op. cit. 23. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 24. Idem. 25. Al-Ittihad, 13/3/79, p. 1, and 16/3/79, p. 8. 26. Le Monde, 14/3/79, p. 3.

110

In Bethlehem, there are violent clashes between students and troops, as the town is sealed off to prevent access to mayors from other parts of the West Bank who were scheduled to hold a meeting in the town. Further demonstrations take place in Halhoul, Beit Sahour, Qalandya and Sanjal. In al-Bireh and Nablus troops use tear-gas grenades on students, as large numbers of Palestinians are arrested. In Jerusalem shops are ordered to reopen, while a major demonstration in the city is violently repressed.27

On 13 March, a general strike in schools and a complete commercial strike are observed in Ramallah, al-Bireh, Bethelehem and East Jerusalem. A number of schools in Nablus and Jericho join the movement. Large demonstrations occur and numerous arrests are made. The biggest demons¬ trations take place in Ramallah, where hundreds of school students block the roads and throw stones at the security forces, and also at the Military Governor of the West Bank, Benyamin Ben Eliezer, and the Co-ordinator of Operations in the occupied territories, Dany Matt, who are making a tour of the region. Students at the teacher training colleges in the town come out into the streets dressed in traditional Palestinian colours, their faces covered with Keffiyahs, brandishing the Palestinian flag and shouting slogans against the Israeli occupation and the US. The Military Governor reacts swiftly and orders the closure of the teacher training colleges and the transfer of students from villages in the region to schools in their own villages. He labels these institutions of higher education as “hotbeds of agitation.” It should be noted that Ramallah is the principal education centre for the whole region.28 Several members of the teaching staff submit their resignations in protest against this discriminatory measure.29

The demonstrations take a violent turn when Gush Emunim settlers from ’Ofra armed with pistols and rifles storm into the town. They fire on the demonstrators, force residents of one quarter to dismantle barricades under threat of being shot, and they attack a number of apartments. They then return to their settlement under the protection of border guards, whom the military government has put at their disposal.30

In Bir Zeit, where the curfew imposed the day before is still in force, hundreds of students demonstrate. The teachers and students of the Uni¬ versity declare an open strike in protest against the shooting incident the day before which led to several students being injured, with one student seriously wounded in the chest.3 1

On the same day, more demonstrations are held in Jericho, Beit Ur, Beit Sira, Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, Qalandya and East Jerusalem.32 In Jericho, students at two schools throw stones at the security forces. Settlers from ’Ofra fire on some young Palestinians near a barricade of stones erected on the Ramallah-Latrun road between Beit Ur and Beit Sira. In Beit Sahour, a

27. Le Monde, op. cit., al-Ittihad, op. cit., and 13/3/79, p. 1; Jerusalem Post, 1 3/3/79, p. 2\ Ha’aretz, 13/3/79, p. 1. 28. Ha’aretz, 14/3/79, p. 1. 29. Ma’ariv, 15/3/79, p. 4; Le Monde, 15/3/79, p. 1. 30. Idem. ; Jerusalem Post, 14/3/79, p. 2. 31. Idem. ;Ha’aretz, op. cit,. Davar, 14/3/79, p. 2 ; Ma’ariv, 14/3/79, p. 4, 32\ Ha’aretz, op. cit.

Ill

commercial strike is observed and a large demonstration is staged, provoking brutal repressive measures from the Israeli security forces, who make mass arrests. In Bethlehem, where most schools, and the University, remain on strike, demonstrations are held in which stones are thrown at the Israeli forces In Qalandya, youths set fire to an abandoned vehicle and block the main road. In Nablus, students demonstrate in their schools.33 In east Jerusalem, several hundred young Palestinians from the al-Ibrahimiyeh faculty and the Dar al-Awlad School march down Salaheddin Street holding the Palestinian flag aloft and shouting out, among other things, “al-Aqsa belongs to us.” After they have passed through the Old City they are violently dispersed by the police.34

The Mayors of Nablus, Halhoul and Ramallah issue statements condemning the imminent bilateral Egyptian-Israeli treaty.35 Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a reiterates that the treaty “aims at safeguarding the respective interests of the signatories, including the US, but cannot possibly succeed in resolving the conflict in the region because it denies the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and ignores the PLO”.36 Meanwhile, the leaders in the Gaza Strip express their outright rejection of any notion of applying autonomy in Gaza first if its application in the West Bank proves impossible.37

On 14 March, demonstrations and strikes continue in East Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank.38 In East Jerusalem, hundreds of young demonstrators from the al-Ibrahimiyeh, al-Mahmoudiyeh and Abdallah Ben al-Hussein schools39 throng the Old City throughout the day shouting out slogans such as “Victory for Palestine” and “Sadat the Traitor.” Small groups of students throw stones at the security forces, and on two occasions the police fire “warning shots.” Brutally repressive measures are taken, with 50 students being arrested and two schools, whose students40 are accused of having been the most active during the demonstrations being closed for an indefinite period. Shopkeepers, still on strike, are forced to open their doors. The police threaten to take “all measures necessary to put an end to the disturbances.”4 1

In Ramallah, hundreds of paratroopers patrol the streets as soldiers and border guards pour into the town.42 Hundreds of schoolchildren come out into the streets in demonstrations.4 3

In Hebron, young Palestinians demonstrating in the centre of town raise their national flag as they confront the advancing armoured vehicles by throwing stones. More demonstrations occur in a refugee camp near Bethlehem, while in Bethlehem itself another school is ordered closed.44

33 .Davar, op. cit. 34. Idem, \ Le Monde, op. cit. 35. Jerusalem Post, 14/3/79, p. 2. 36. Haaretz, 14/3/79, p. 1. 37. Davar, 14/3/79, p. 3 -Le Monde, 15/3/79, p. 4. 38. The Guardian, 15/3/79, p. 1. 39. Al-Ittihad, 16/3/79, p. 8. 40. LeMonde, 16/3/79, p. 3. 41. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 42. Al-Ittihad, 16/3/79, p. 1. 43. Ma’ariv 15/3/79, p. 4. 44. Le Monde, op. cit.

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Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a sends a strongly-worded letter of protest to the Defence Minister and the Military Governor of the West Bank condemning the savage attack by the security forces on schoolchildren.4 5 The Mayors of Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem affirm that the schoolchildren are expressing the feelings of the whole population of the occupied territories.4 6

On 15 March, demonstrations and strikes continue in East Jerusalem, Bir Zeit, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Halhoul, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Hebron, Nablus and Jericho.47 In Hebron, where more demonstrations take place, armed settlers from Kiryat Arba’ patrol the streets in what local councillors describe as a “blatant show of force”. The settlers force children and old men in the town to dismantle barricades of stones at gunpoint.48 The Hebron municipal council sends a cable to Weizman and the Military Governor of the West Bank protesting this thuggish behaviour.49 In Halhoul, several hundred schoolchildren amass in the main street shouting slogans such as “Death to Sadat the Traitor” and “Long Live the PLO,” and displaying the Palestinian flag. Shots are fired by troops and settlers. Two young Palestinians, Nasri al-Anani, aged 20, and Rabi’a al-Shalaldeh, 17, are killed, and a young student, Yusef Saleh, is wounded in the leg.5 0 Mayor Muhammad Hassan Milhem immediately sends a cable to the Defence Minister and the West Bank Military Governor condemning the “barbarous behaviour of an army which does not hesitate to kill innocent people.”51

In the course of demonstrations in Gaza, one hundred students are arrested.52

On 16-17 March, schools remain on strike throughout the West Bank. Major demonstrations take place in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. In Hebron, where all the schools remain on strike for the third day running, students throw stones at a factory attached to Kiryat Arba’. A guard fires on them to disperse them.5 3

On 18 March, the school strikes continue in most of the towns and villages in the West Bank, as the curfews are maintained in Halhoul, Beit Horon, Beit ‘Ur al-Tahta, Ramallah and Bir Zeit. More demonstrations take place in Hebron, Qalandya, and on the Jerusalem-Ramallah road.

In Sa’ir, near Hebron, a small girl is hit by a bullet fired by a soldier. Troops had fired their weapons to disperse a funeral procession held in the village to mourn the martyrs who fell in Halhoul. Many villagers are arrested as troop reinforcements are brought in.

Students at al-Najah University also fall victim to severely repressive measures. Having raised the Palestinian flag over the University building the students are holding a peaceful demonstration on campus when troops burst

45. Jerusalem Post, 15/3/79, p. 1. 46. Ma’ariv, op. cit. 47. Al-Ittihad, 16/3/19, p. 1. 48. Le Monde, op. cit, ; Jerusalem Post, 16/3/79, p. 1. 49. Le Monde, op. cit. 50. Le Nouvel Observateur, No. 749, 19-25/3/79, p. 43 \ al-Ittihad, op. cit. 51. Le Monde, 16/3/79, p. 40 ;Cf. Section B, p. 52. 52. Jerusalem Post, 16/3/79, p. 2. 53. Davar, 18/3/79, p. 2 ;Ha’aretz, 18/3/79, p. 1.

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on the scene making arrests left and right. The military governor of Nablus later assembles the students and warns them of the dire consequences involved in their continuing to “create disturbances.” This intimidatory measure takes place in the presence of the student’s parents who have been summoned to attend.54

On 19 March, the demonstrations in the West Bank against the Egyptian-Israeli treaty continue. In the village of Bani Na’im, near Hebron, troops storm the local school to disperse students demonstrating there.5 5 The St. George school in Jerusalem is the scene of violent clashes between troops and schoolchildren.5 6 Meanwhile, the measures taken by the security forces to stifle the national protest movement are kept up. The curfews clamped on Halhoul since 15 March and on Beit ’Ur al-Tahta, on the Ramallah-Latrun road, are only lifted for one hour per day to allow the population to get provisions. The curfew on Ramallah remains in effect5 7 while the inhabitants of the town call for a general strike to protest against the measures taken by the military authorities against the educational institutions in the West Bank.58

On 20 March, while the Knesset debate on the Egyptian-Israeli treaty gets underway, young Palestinians stage demonstrations. The most violent incidents of the day occur in Ramallah.5 9

On 21 March, a major demonstration occurs in Gaza in the course of which the Palestinian flag is raised and slogans shouted against Sadat and the Israeli occupation. 30 students are arrested.60 The military court in Gaza sentences three Palestinians aged between 12 and 17 to six months suspended sentences and orders them to pay fines ranging between IL 2,500, for the youngest, and IL 5,000 on charges of blocking the road to the north of Khan Yunis.61

Meanwhile in the West Bank, a mass student demonstration takes place at Bir Zeit, in the course of which the Palestinian flag is raised, barricades erected and stones thrown in the path of advancing armoured cars.62 In Nablus, primary schoolchildren join in the demonstrations, which block Salaheddin Street. In ’Askar, a number of youths are arrested following the wounding of the driver of a military vehicle by stones they have thrown.63 The agitation of the past week and a half in the schools in Ramallah and Hebron continues.64 In Bani Na’im, schools remain on strike in protest against an attack on the village on 19 March. The village Mukhtar announces that when, troops stormed the schools a number of teachers were manhandled and generally maltreated, resulting in four of them having to

54. Al-Ittihad, 20/3/79, p. 1. 55. The Guardian, 20/3/79, p. 5. 56. Jerusalem Post, 20/3/79, p. 3. 57. The Guardian, op. cit. 58. Jerusalem Post, op. cit. 59. Ma’ariv, 21/3/79, p. 4. 60. Al-Ittihad, 23/3/79, p. 1. 61. Ha’aretz, 22/3/79, p. 5. 62. Al-Ittihad, 23/3/79, p. 1. 63. Ha’aretz, 22/3/79, p. 8. 64. Le Monde, 23/3/79, p. 5.

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spend three days in hospital recovering. Five other teachers say they were hit by soldiers. School strikes and demonstrations continue in most parts of the West Bank.65

The Mayors of the West Bank send a cable to the Minister of Defence, protesting the by now week-long curfew clamped on Halhoul, the brutal repression of demonstrations, and the decision to force village children studying in towns to transfer to schools in their own villages.66

23 March — Jerusalem Congress. Despite the ban on all political meetings, the representatives of professional associations, Muslim and Christian religious bodies, chambers of commerce, women’s associations and clubs in East Jerusalem manage to hold a meeting at the Arab Graduates Club. They issue a communique denouncing the policy of the Egyptian regime, which they declare constitutes an act of defiance to the “will of the Arab masses” and ignores the right of the Palestinian people to “self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.” They reiterate their “commitment to the unity of the Arab people of Palestine” wherever they may be.6 7

From March 23 to 26, while the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty in Washington goes ahead, the wave of terror intensifies. A number of Palestinians from Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Ramallah are arbitrarily arrested. They include engineers, writers, teachers and unionists. A petition submitted for their release by Felicia Langer is rejected.68 They remain in detention until the beginning of April without being tried, or even charged.69

A group of 12-14-year-olds are arrested in Qalandya camp, along with another group of young Palestinians from Kafr Badu.70

24 March — Hebron Congress. The municipal councils of Hebron, Dora, and Yata, the village councils, the chamber of commerce, the religious bodies, the union of welfare associations, the professional and workers, associations, the women’s organisations and other bodies of the Hebron district meet to discuss the autonomy plan and the intensification of the savage aggression mounted against the Palestinian people by the occupation forces. Those who attend proclaim their rejection of the Camp David agreements and of all which has followed from them ; specifically “the policy of fait accompli and the autonomy scheme, the objective of which is to legalise the Israeli occupation.” They denounce “the arbitrary and repressive measures which the authorities have resorted to against the citizens and the ban on their expressing their opinion on the events concerning their future,” and demand that the curfew imposed 10 days ago on Halhoul and Beit ‘Ur be lifted.7 1.

65. Davar, 22/3/79, p. 3 ;Ha’aretz, op. cit. 66. Ha’aretz, 22/3/79, p. 3. 67 Al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 1, and 6/4/79, p. 2. Cf. Documents - A, p. 136, for text of the communique. 68. Al-Ittihad. 30/3/79, p. 8. 69. -Al-Ittihad, 13/4/79, p. 3. 70. Al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 6. 71. Al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 1.

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24 March - 3000 to 4000 Palestinians from the West Bank, in reponse to a call by the Islamic Supreme Council, organise a sit-in at the Harem el-Sharif in Jerusalem, to show that the Arab city of Jerusalem is the heart of the West Bank and cannot be ignored.72

On 25 March, at the end of a cabinet meeting, Zevulon Hammer announces that the violence used against Palestinians who opposed the separate Egyptian-Israeli agreement will be stepped up and that the security forces have received orders to “take firm control of” the situation in the bccupied territories.7 3 Exceptional security measures are taken, which include several preventive steps : Bir Zeit University is closed until 31 March ; the officials of student movements in Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron receive warnings involving them not to call for demonstrations ; arrests are widespread. School holidays are extended for a week to prevent school children from gathering.75 The mayors are summoned for notification that they are held responsible for preventing any national demonstrations. As a sign of protest against the imminent signature of the Israeli-Egyptian treaty, the Palestinians of Gaza burn tyres, and throw stones at vehicles and military installations. Two Israeli trucks are set ablaze.76

On 26 March, the day of the signature of the Israeli-Egyptian treaty, a national “Day of Mourning” is observed in the occupied territories. The day is marked by a general strike in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.77 Demonstrations take place in spite of the stepped up security measures. The demonstrators raise the Palestinian flag and erect barricades.78 In Ramallah, where a black flag is hoisted in the main street, demonstrations are violently repressed, as they are in Nablus.79 A communique is issued in the name of the municipalities and national institutions denouncing the US-Israeli-Egyptian deal. It reaffirms that no solution can be found without the PLO, “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” and that nothing can stand in the way of the aspirations of a people that demands that its legitimate rights be respected.80

On 27 March, the mayors of the West Bank issue numerous declarations denouncing the separate treaty which has just been signed and the administrative autonomy scheme. Karim Khalaf violently attacks the “Zionist-imperialist-Sadatist agreement,” while Fahd Qawasmeh declares that “the fundamental issues have not even been touched.”8 1

29 March — Popular Congress in Jerusalem. Despite restrictions on the West Bank mayors, and in defiance of the proliferating checkpoints and preventive

72. The Economist, 31/3/79, p. 42. 73. Jerusalem Post, 26/3/79, p. 2. 74. Le Monde, 27/3/79, p. 23 Al-Ittihad. op. cit. 75. Ha’aretz, 27/3/79, p. 5. 76. Jerusalem Post, 27/3/79, p. 2. 77. Le Monde, 28/3/79, p. 4 ; Yediot Aharonot, 27/3/79, p. 6 ; al-Ittihad, 27/3/79, p. 1. 78. Davar, 2113/19, p. 3. 79. Hq'aretz, 27/3/79, p. 5. 80. Le Monde, op. cit. Documents A, p. 139 for text of communique. 81. Ha’aretz, 28/3/79, p. 7.

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arrests,8 2 a popular congress is held at the Arab employees club in Jerusalem to commemorate the Day of the Land. The participants adopt resolutions denouncing the separate peace treaty, land expropriation and colonisation. They affirm that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, whose unity can never be dissolved, and demand that the Arab countries implement the resolutions of the Baghdad summit conference without delay. They denounce the escalated campaign of repression in all the occupied territories over the last period, noting especially the case of Halhoul, where the curfew imposed on 15 March is still in force.8 3

Elsewhere, political detainees in Israeli prisons commemorate the Day of the Land with a 24-hour hunger strike.84

In Gaza, the mayors and village council heads, together with the national associations of the Gaza Strip, issue a communique denouncing the separate treaty between Egypt and Israel.8 5

In the Palestinian territories annexed in 1948, four public meetings are held on 30 March in al-Taibeh, Deir Hanna, Kafr Kanna and Tel al-Saba’. Several thousand people participate in the meetings, as the Regional Lands Defence Committee issues a communique saluting the third anniversary of the Day of the Land and declaring that no peace can be achieved without the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people.86

The waves of strikes and demonstrations which during March swept the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 was followed from the beginning of April by a savage campaign of repression. The Palestinians of Gaza, who have been demonstrating for 11 days running, against the administrative autonomy scheme, fall victim to a spate of arbitrary arrests. Many more are arrested in the West Bank,87 On 1 April, troops storm into the al-Rashidiyeh school in Nablus and subject the teaching staff to violent harassment on the grounds that they did not prevent their students from demonstrating.8 8

Secondary school children from East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Abu Dis, aged between 15 and 18, are arrested for demonstrating. Six schools are closed by military decree in the districts of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho.89 Six children from the Jericho secondary school are expelled by military decree.90 On 10 April, a 24 hour curfew is imposed on the village of Yamoun, near Jenin, and in the camp of ’Aqbat Jaber, near Jericho, under the pretext of “arresting people suspected of throwing stones at soldiers” during recent demonstrations.9 1

On 25 May, date of Sadat-Begin meeting in Bir el-Sabe’, the Palestinians of the West Bank write slogans on the walls of their towns and villages : “Death to the traitor Sadat,” “No to administrative autonomy! ” “Yes to a Palestinian

82. Le Monde, 1-2/4/79, p. 4 ; Jerusalem Post 1/4/79, p. 2. 83 Al-Ittihad, 3/4/79, p. 1. See Documents — A, p. 139 for text of the communique. 84. Al-Ittihad, 13/4/79, p. 8. 85. Davar ,1/4/79, p. 2. 86. Al-Ittihad, 30/3/79, p. 1, and 3/4/79, p. 1. 87. Al-Ittihad, 1/4/79, p. 2. 88. Al-Ittihad, 6/4/19, p. 1. 89. Davar, 6/4/79, p. 3. 90. Al-Ittihad, 10/4/79, p. 6. 91. Al-Ittihad, 13/4/79, p. 8 ; Jerusalem Post, 13/4/79, p. 2.

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State.”92 Similar demonstrations break out in September, particularly in Ramallah, on the occasion of the autonomy negotiations held in Haifa.9 3

2 May — Protest against Gush Emunim. Under the protection of paratroops and Israeli army helicopters, Gush Emunim settlers stage an armed march to commemorate the creation of the Zionist entity and to demand the acceleration of colonisation. Their choice of the Hutseh-Shomron highway as their route is significant in itself. The Palestinians in the area try to stop their advance with stones and barricades.94 Bir Zeit students demonstrating against the march and displaying Palestinian flags come under fire from Neveh Tsouf settlers. Riad Nakhleh Daoud is seriously wounded. Troops intervene and conduct a thorough search of the University. Not one settler is as much as bothered, while twenty students are summoned to appear at the offices of the military governor for questioning. Bir Zeit vice-president Gaby Baramki, is himself summoned and notified of the indefinite closure of the university, from 3 May.9 5 Other demonstrations take place in Jenin.9 6

Elsewhere, the mayors and the representatives of trade unions, chambers of commerce, student unions and women’s associations of the West Bank organise a march starting from Nablus. Prevented from reaching Salfit, they hold a press conference in the Nablus town hall, issuing a communique in which they affirm : “We proclaim once again our attachment to our land and our country, and we denounce the government approved settlement campaigns which go ahead while we, the owners of the land, are prevented from expressing our rejection of colonisation and our condemnation of the cavalier conduct of the authorities. Repression leads our people to cling even more to their national rights which must be realised on their national soil. Their freedom to determine their future on their land will inevitably be achieved, in spite of the phony peace currently being concluded. Indeed, what is this peace they are talking about against a background of expropriations, plunder and terror ? ”9 2 The personalities present decide to issue a call for a general strike for 15 May and to set up committees to study ways of countering settlement projects.9 8

On 3 May, more demonstrations take place in the main towns of the West Bank (Qabatiyeh, Hebron, Bethlehem and Bir Zeit) to denounce the policy of colonisation. The most serious incidents occur in Bethlehem, where the security forces, commanded by the military governor of the West Bank, besiege the University for almost four hours. The 400 students of the University hoist the Palestinian flag and resist the troops by throwing stones. They are summoned the next day for “questioning.” The University remains closed from 3 to 7 May by military decree.9 9 The press notes that around 50

92. Al-Ittihad, 29/5/79, p. 6. 93. Al-Ittihad, 7/9/79, p. 8. 94. Ha’aretz, 3/5/79, p. 8 ;Newsweek, 14/5/79, pp. 31.32. 95. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 1. ; Cf. Section B, p. 63. 96. Jerusalem Post, 3/5/79, p. 1. 97. Al-Ittihad, 4/5/79, p. 1. 98. Idem ; Le Monde, 4/5/79, p. 4. 99. Ha’aretz, 4/5/79, p. 1 ; Jerusalem Post, 4/5/79, p. 1 and 6/5/79, p. 2. Le Monde, 5/5/79, p. 8 ; Davar, 4/5/79, p. 1.

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Bethlehem students remain in detention for several days without trial. Nine are eventually fined IL 10,000 each and given prison sentences ranging from 8 to 10 months.10 0

5 June — Protest against the continuation of the occupation. Municipalities in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza observe a strike on 5 June to denounce the continuation of the occupation. The Palestinian flag is hoisted over houses in Bir-Zeit, Ramallah, El-Bireh, Nablus, Hebron and Halhoul and above Palestinian camps throughout the occupied territories. Slogans written on walls denounce the administrative autonomy plan and the separate treaty. The Palestinian press published in East Jerusalem reaffirms in its editorials the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including the right to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent national state.101

17 June — Demonstrations in Nablus region against Elon Moreh.102 On 10 June, with Nablus on strike in protest against the establishment of the settlement of Elon Moreh on private land expropriated from the villagers of Rujeib, Bassam al-Shak’a announces that together with other West Bank leaders he is studying measures to be taken in order to put an end to this new. violation.

On 17 June more than 5000 inhabitants conduct a peaceful march on Roujeib. At their head is Mayor Bassam el-Shak’a, who received a severe warning the day before. He is accompanied by the representatives of all the national associations of the region, including the heads of village councils. After getting the journalists out of the way, soldiers charge the marchers with tear gas and batons, wounding dozens. A hundred men and women are arrested. Elsewhere, soldiers attack shops to break the strike.103

The mayors of Nablus, Qalqiliya, Tulkarem, Salfit and ’Anabta, religious dignitaries, and representatives of chambers of commerce and of trade unions publish a communique on 1 July denouncing the repressive measures taken against the inhabitants of Nablus following the demonstration of 17 June. They affirm that the inhabitants had been summoned in hundreds for questioning, and they are only released on condition that they appear before a military court.104 Several leaders of the town suffer the same fate.105 The military authorities stop their threats after that, but collective punishment is imposed on the town, with restrictions on summer visits and a ban on travel to Arab countries.10 6

When the question arises of transferring Elon Moreh to the land of the village of Deir al-Hatab, an equally vigorous protest movement arises. After denouncing any such move in a communique issued on 8 December,107

100. Al-Ittihad, 29/5/79, p. 3. m.Al-Ittihad, 8/6/79, p. 1. 102. Cf. Section B, p. 66. 103. Davar, 18/6/79, 1979, p. 1 ; al-Ittihad, 19/6/79, p. 1. 104. The Guardian, 2/7/79, p. 1. See Documents A, p. 140 for text of communique. 105. Jerusalem Post, 28/6/79, p. 1. 106. Ha’aretz, 2/7/79, p. 1 ; The Guardian, op. cit. 107. Al-Quds, 10/12/79, p. 7.

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hundreds of people come out to block the advance of the bulldozers, which had arrived to clear the site, by burning tyres and erecting barricades.108 The subsequent wave of repression, with dozens arrested and many wounded, fails to bow the people’s spirits, and when troops sent to guarantee free passage for the bulldozers take up positions in the village on 10 December, a new demonstration takes place.109

On 12 December, the movement gathers momentum as a mass demonstration led by the Nablus Mayor and including the Mayors of Tubas and Salfit sets out from Nablus. It is halted at a road-block at the entrance to Deir al-Hatab.110

26 June — Funeral of George Theodore, aged 25, born in Ramallah, who died on 24 June (together with Issa Youssef, born in Kafr Qasem), following the explosion of a charge in a car in Tel Aviv. The funeral turns into a national demonstration against the occupation and the Camp David agreements. Several West Bank mayors attend, including those of Ramallah, El-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jericho and Beit Sahour. The soldiers use their weapons to disperse the demonstrators and dozens of arrests are made. The merchants of Ramallah go on strike in protest.111

16 July — Protest against Negev Land expropriation. The Bedouin tribes of the Negev, who have always opposed each new measure of expropriation of their land, are enraged by the draft “Negev Land Acquisition Law,” which stands to dispossess them completely.112 On 16 July, they announce that they will struggle bitterly against the plan. Hamad Abu Rabi’, one of their leaders, stresses that the government is using the construction of military bases as a pretext for expelling the Bedouin tribes from their lands. He adds that well before the signing of the treaty with Egypt, the government was already dispossessing the Bedouin of their land.113 On 22 July, during a press conference, the representatives of the tribes warn against the project, which, if it is approved, will transform thousands of citizens of the Negev into genuine refugees.114 A meeting of the tribes, held in Bir el-Sabe’ on 22 July, unanimously decides to refuse the slightest compensation.115 On 24 July, several hundred Bedouin demonstrate against the proposed expropriations.116 One of the banners points out with acid humour the racist character of the draft legislation. It reads : “The High Court is open to all-except dogs and Bedouin.”117 At the behest of the Regional Committee of Local Arab Councils and of Regional Lands Defence Committee, ten thousand Palestinians of the Negev and Galilee demonstrate on 30 July in

108. International Herald Tribune, 10/12/79, p. 1. 109. Al-Ittihad, 11/12/79, p. 1. 110. Al-Ittihad, 14/12/79, p. 8. Ill .Jerusalem Post, 28/6/79, p. 3 ; al-Ittihad, 29/6/79, p.,8. 112. Cf. Section A, p. 23. 113. Jerusalem Post, 17/7/79, p. 2. 114. Al-Ittihad, 24/7/79, p. 6. 115. Al-Ittihad, 24/7/79, p. 1. 116. LeMonde, 26/7/79, p. 3. 117. The Guardian, 25/7/79, p. 6.

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front of the Knesset against the expropriation of their lands.118 The Palestinians of the Negev publish an “Appeal” in the press, entitled : “Citizen : stop and think”, in which they denounce “this crime against our rights”, meaning the decree relating to the confiscation of lands. It also affirms that “...the proposed law is a discriminatory one aimed at confiscating and despoiling the land of the Bedouins.” They condemn the plan to rehouse Bedouins expelled from their land in urban centres, including Lagiya, and demand the construction of farming villages which correspond more closely to their traditional life-style.11 9

July — In a communique, the Palestinian National Front in the Occupied Territories issues a call to reinforce national unity and to intensify the struggle to thwart the administrative autonomy plan and to extract “our legitimate national rights.”12 0

20-22 July — First Palestinian Social Congress. The unions and welfare organisations, the presidents of the municipal councils, and the representatives of the trade unions and popular associations of the West Bank and Gaza participating in this congress held in East Jerusalem confirm “the unity and solidarity of the Palestinian people inside and outside the occupied territories, in their rejection of the policy of the Israeli occupation” and reaffirm “the aspirations of the Palestinian people for the creation of an independent state on their national soil under the leadership of the PLO.” Recommendations are also adopted in the fields of teaching, social welfare, economy and emigration.121

18 September — Demonstration at Urn al-Fahm, in Galilee. In response to Rabbi Meir Kahane’s threat to make a raid on the village, the populace demonstrates, demanding a halt to the theft of Arab lands, an end of the occupation of the West Bank and Gazaf and an immediate halt to the criminal agressions perpetrated against South Lebanon. The demonstrators also chant slogans calling for the recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the creation of an independent state under the leadership of the PLO.12 2

September — The General Union of West Bank Students issues a communique violently attacking the repression aimed against students and school children, and denouncing the general Israeli policy of educational deprivation in the occupied territories. The communique affirms that following nationalist demonstrations, hundreds of secondary school children have been transferred into village schools and left without teachers or school equipment. The Students’ Union notes that 2,226123 more classrooms are

118. Ma’ariv, 3117/19, p. 3 ; al-Ittihad, 31/7/79, p. 1; Yediot Aharonot, 31/7/79, p. 5 ; Le Monde, 2/8 79, p. 4. 119. Al-Ittihad, 21/7/79, p. 2. 120. Al-Ittihad, 20/7/79, p. 1. 121. Al-Ittihad, 24/7/79, p. 6. 122. Al-Ittihad, 18/4/79, p. 6 and 21/9/79, p. 8. 123. Al-Tali’a, No. 82, 27/9/79, p. 8.

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badly needed. On 26 September124 and 7 October demonstrations take place in protest against this state of affairs.12 5

7 October — Over 5,000 Palestinian detainees begin a hunger strike in thirty prisons in the West Bank and Gaza in protest against “the absence of medical and sanitary facilities” in their places of detention.126 On 8 and 10 September the families of the detainees organise a sit-in in the offices of the IRC in East Jerusalem.12 7

15 October — The municipal councils of Ramallah and al-Bireh denounce the authorities’ intention to try Mayors Karim Khalaf and Ibrahim al-Tawil on charges of disturbing the peace and assaulting an officer of the law during the November 1978 hearing of the Beit El land case. After revealing the way in which the authorities had exploited the incident in order to attack the mayors, the municipalities affirm that the deliberate plot to get rid of Khalaf and Tawil was an integral part of the Camp David-instigated scheme to appoint flunkies to responsible posts.12 9

When the two mayors appear before a Jerusalem district court on 16 October, demonstrations are staged and West Bank mayors and other national figures attend the hearing as an expression of solidarity.13 0 The circumstances of the two subsequent hearings held on 11 and 20 December131 indicate that the mayors were taken to court with the express purpose of running them out of office.

30 October — The National Guidance Committee, composed of mayors and other national personalities from the West Bank and Gaza, issues a memorandum of protest against the colonial fever which has gripped the occupation authorities and led to the seizure of even more land under the well-worn pretext of “security.” It stresses the fact that this land is destined for the Gush Emunim, adding that this movement, which is aided and abetted by the government, does not hesitate to fire on unarmed citizens, as happened at Halhoul and Bir Zeit where Palestinians died or were injured. The Committee denounces the continued extensive restrictions on liberties, and the increasing resort to “collective punishments” such as cutting off the electricity from certain towns and refugee camps for long periods, and the demolition of houses. This is not to mention the obstacles placed in the way of any project initiated by the town councils. For all these reasons, the National Guidance Committee reaffirms its rejection of colonisation and proclaims : “the right of our people to oppose by any means the policies of the occupier ; attachment to our right to self-determination... on our land

124. Ai-Tali’a, no. 84, 11/10/79, p. 10. 125. LeMonde, 19/9/79, p. 4 ;al-Ittihad, 9/10/79, p. 1. 126. LeMonde, 9/10/79, p. 4. 127. Al-Quds, 11/10/79, p. 1. 128. Al-Ittihad, 16/10/79, p. 1. 129. See Documents ~ A, p. 142 for text of communique. 130. Le Monde, 19/10/79, p. 6 \al-Tali’af No. 85,18/10/79, p. 12. 131 .International Herald Tribune, 12/12/79, p. 2 \al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, p. 1.

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and to the creation of an independent Palestinian state under the leadership of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of our people and “rejection of the administrative autonomy plan.”132

8 November — Popular Uprising against expulsion of Bassam al-Shak’a. In an attempt to rid the occupied Palestinian territories of their leaders and to put an end to the struggle against the occupation and the administrative autonomy plan, the military authorities decide to expel the mayor of Nablus from the West Bank.133 On 12 March, “highly-placed” sources reveal that the decision has been put off several times for reasons connected with the negotiations with Egypt. They say that a dossier has been compiled on al-Shak’a’s activities with his expulsion in mind. The dossier comprises mainly a list of strikes and demonstrations of which the mayor has been a principal organiser ; from the demonstration which took place as a sign of protest against Added Value Tax one month after his election to the head of the Nablus Town council (in 1976), to those organised in 1979.

The dossier also mentions the refusal of the Nablus Town Council to fill up water tankers bound for the settlements of Shomron and Elon Moreh and attacks the communique which the municipal council published on the occasion of the commemoration of the death of three Palestinians from the West Bank, killed while preparing an explosive charge in Jenin.134 These revelations are made following a declaration made on 9 November by Cabinet Secretary Arieh Naor, which claimed that the government’s decision to banish al-Shak’a was not based solely on his supposed remarks to General Matt and that “proofs” would be funished of the “hostile activities” carried out by the mayor against the occupation.13 5 Al-Shak’a on several occasions violently denounces the fact that his remarks to General Matt have been deliberately taken out of their context. On 7 November, in a statement to the press, he affirms that when he was summoned on 6 November by General Dany Matt, the coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories, and questioned on his position towards the armed struggle mounted by the Palestinian Resistance, he linked this struggle to the policy of aggression waged by Israel in the occupied territories and South Lebanon. “I replied,” al-Shak’a says, “that no force in the world could stop the military actions undertaken by various Palestinian organisations, and that this would be true as long as the occupation continued by force... as long as (Israeli) military presence was maintained in the occupied territories, and as long as arrests were made, settlements established, and prisons filled up with Palestinians.”

Al-Shak’a also denounces the Israeli aggressions against South Lebanon, in the course of which “villages were destroyed and whole families exterminated.”136 In a statement issued on 9 November, al-Shak’a points out that the military authorities had laid a trap for him by leading him into

132. Al-Ittihad, 2/11/79, p. 1. 133. Ha’aretz, 9/11/79, p. 1. 134. Ha'aretz, 13/11/79, p. 1. 135. International Herald Tribune, 10-11/11/79, p. 3. 136. Jerusalem Post, 8/11/79, 1979, p. 1.

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making the remarks they were now using as a pretext to expel him from the West Bank. Matt defied al-Shak’a to defend the actions of two Palestinian commandos who survived an operation carried out in March 1978 along the coast, and who had recently been sentenced. “I explained,” al-Shak’a says, “that to resist tyranny and violations of human rights was a right sanctified in divine and international law. The (Palestinian) military response is simply a political reaction against tyranny. The continuation of the occupation incites the dispossessed to use all the means at their disposal to defend their national and human rights.” It should be stressed that Israel radio broadcast the “Israeli version” of the remarks attributed to the mayor of Nablus. Next day, Ha’aretz published an inflammatory headline : “Mayor al-Shak’a : I identify myself completely with the coastal road assassins.”137 Elsewhere, al-Shak’a’s wife, in a petition to the High Court of Justice (the day before the publication of the statement) to try and get a provisional order forbidding the Ministry of Defence to expel her husband, stressed that her husband’s remarks had been “falsified deliberately and taken out of context with the purpose of provoking his dismissal.” She added that the revelations which had been made “were part of a campaign orchestrated against patriotic mayors who opposed the autonomy project.”13 8

The dangers inherent in this campaign are well-understood by the population of the West Bank and Gaza and by their national associations (municipalities, trade unions etc...). Palestinians throughout the territories occupied in 1967 join in a mass popular uprising to prevent al-Shak’a’s expulsion, a measure considered as an integral part of the Israeli determination to impose administrative autonomy, by first getting rid of the leaders of the occupied territories. The struggle mounts to allow the mayor of Nablus to remain in the country and is aimed at denouncing this plan. Crystallising around this man, the campaign takes on a symbolic character. The main events of the campaign are as follows :

8 November — Nablus National Congress. In response to the smear campaign against Bassam al-Shak’a in the Israeli press and the Knesset, more than a hundred national personalities of the West Bank, mayors, councillors and the representatives of various national associations, meet in the Nablus municipality in order to declare their solidarity with al-Shak’a and send telegrams of protest.139

9 November — Gaza Municipal Council Communique. After an extraordinary meeting, the Gaza municipal council denounces the expulsion order, and affirms that the Palestinians of Gaza, just like those of the West Bank, cannot be separated from the struggle which the Palestinian people are waging against the occupation and for the legitimate right to self-determination and to establish an independent sovereign state. The communique finally reiterates that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.14 0

137. The Guardian, 10/11/79, 1979, p. 6. 138. LeMonde, 10/11/79, p. 3. 139. The Guardian, 9/11119, p. 10. See Documents - A, p. 143 for text of communique. 140. Al-Quds, 10/11/79, p. 2.

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10 November — Nablus Popular Congress. The mayors and national figures of the West Bank meet in the Nablus municipality to denounce the order to deport Bassam al-Shak’a.141 Hundreds of the town’s inhabitants organise a sit-in on the premises of the municipality.142

11 November — Arrest of Bassam al-Shak’a — Resignation of the Mayors. Bassam al-Shak’a is taken to Ramleh prison after being summoned to the office of the Nablus military governor to be notified of the Defence Minister’s decision to dismiss him from his post and deport him. He is told that he will remain in detention until the High Court of Justice makes a final decision on the temporary injunction against his expulsion, obtained by his wife.143

Shortly before his imprisonment, he declares to the international press : “We do not like killing for its own sake. As a people we wish to live in peace and security as an independent entity and in a state under the leadership of thePLO.144

News of the arrest of the Mayor of Nablus aggravates the tension in the occupied territories. Twenty-one mayors in the West Bank and three municipal representatives from the Gaza Strip meet in Ramallah. They decide to present their collective resignation if al-Shak’a is not released and if all the measures taken against him are not cancelled. They affirm that the municipality and people of Nablus are not alone in confronting the occupation ; the Israeli occupation forces are up against the opposition of a people determined to overthrow them and foil the administrative autonomy plan.145 In another meeting in Hebron, the mayors and representatives of various political groups adopt a motion insisting on the fact that the people of the West Bank want the establsihment of a Palestinian state “led by the PLO.”146

In Nablus, where a general strike is observed, the municipal council issues a communique announcing its resignation and condemning the occupation forces’ policy of emptying the occupied territories of their patriotic figures.14 7

The Palestinian women continuing their sit-in at the Nablus town hall for the second day, issue a communique calling on all freedom-loving people in the world to support the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, in particular their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent national state.148

When seven municipal councils have already announced that they consider themselves as having resigned, students spontaneously stop their classes in many parts of the West Bank. A number of students are arrested in the

141. Jerusalem Post, 11/11/79, p. 1. 142. Al-Quds, 12/11/79, p. 7. 143. Al-Quds, 12/11/79, p. 1. 144. Al-Tali’a, No. 89, 15/11/79, p. 11. 145. Al-Ittihad, 13/11/79, p. 1. 146. Le Monde, 13/11/79, p. 1. 147. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 148. Al-Quds, 12/11/79, p. 7.

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course of widespread demonstrations, in particular in Nablus and Ramallah.149

12 November — Bassam al-Shak’a notifies his lawyer Felicia Langer that he refuses to appear before a military review board.150 Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice rejects the request presented by Mrs. Shak’a for clarification whether the provisional order the Court issued on 8 November forbidding her husband’s expulsion also prevents his being detained. The Court informs Langer that the order “did not forbid administrative and legal measures constituting the preliminaries to deportation.”151

In a vain attempt to stem the tide of the mass movement of solidarity with the Mayor of Nablus, the military authorities let it be known that they have several legal methods at their disposal to get round the collective resignation of the mayors and they could designate an official to take care of municipal affairs.15 2 The West Bank municipal officials subsequently hold a meeting in which they decide to oppose any military decree ordering them to assist in the formation of committees responsible for replacing the elected municipal councillors who have resigned, even if such a refusal meant their dismissal.15 3

The Nablus municipality formally submits its resignation to the military governor of the town, while a general strike is observed in Jenin, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Halhoul, Bir Zeit and Nablus itself. Delegations from all over the occupied territories continue to pour into Nablus to denounce the measures being taken against al-Shak’a and to express their solidarity with the resigned municipal council. Meanwhile the women’s sit-in goes on as students from al-Najah University shouting patriotic slogans throw stones at Israeli troops attempting to disperse their demonstrations. In Jenin, the members of the town’s chamber of commerce are threatened with “the gravest measures” if the shops in the town do not reopen their doors. Nevertheless, the strike goes on. Schools and shops in Ramallah and al-Bireh remain on strike as students demonstrate, throwing stones and burning tyres. Similar demonstrations occur in Beit El and Tubas, where a curfew is in force, while strikes and demonstrations continue in Bethlehem, Hebron, Halhoul and Bir Zeit.154

13 November — Popular Congress in Bethlehem. The Congress is held in an atmosphere of veritable insurrection, as most towns in the West Bank are continuing to observe a general strike, and in Ramallah and al-Bireh troops and police move in violently to disperse students blocking the streets and stoning armoured cars. Some 700 Palestinians, including mayors and representatives of professional and workers’ unions, pack the assembly hall of Bethlehem University for the Congress, at which the municipal councils of

149. Idem, and Jerusalem Post, 12/11/79, p. 1. 150. Al-Ittihad, 13/11/79, p. 1. 151. Jerusalem Post, 13/11/79, p. 1. 152. Al-Quds, 13/11/79, p. 7 ; and al-Ittihad, op. cit. 153. Al-Quds, 13/11/79, p. 7. 154. Jdem ; International Herald Tribune, 13/11/79, p. 1 \Davar 13/11/79. p. 1.

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13 towns and villages in the Ramallah, Jenin and Tulkarm districts submit their collective resignation in writing.155 Bassam al-Shak’a, still detained in Ramleh prison, addresses a letter to the Congress, through the intermediary of Felicia Langer, in which he denounces the behaviour of the occupation authorities responsible for the distorition of the comments he made in confidence in reply to General Matt’s questions. Speakers at the Congress one after the other affirm their absolute solidarity with the Mayor of Nablus, and the final communique demands his immediate release, stating that the measures taken against him are part of a general strategy to empty the occupied territories of Palestinians opposed to the Camp David accords. The communique further denounces the administrative autonomy plan and continued Israeli colonisation of the occupied territories.15 6

14 November — Bir Zeit Congress. A new element enters into the reckoning before the Congress begins. Bassam al-Shak’a informs his lawyer Felicia Langer that as of 16 November he will observe an open hunger strike. The Mayor of Nablus has reiterated to Langer that “the military authorities are exploiting certain distorted phrases in order to implement a long-standing plan.” He added that he had asked Matt during their famous meeting “why the questions of settlements, expropriation of land and aggression against the Palestinian people had not been raised.”157 Through his hunger strike Bassam al-Shak’a is intending to protest against the decision taken that very day by the ministerial security committee, which, meeting under the chairmanship of Begin, has just unanimously decided to deport him by virtue of the 1945 Emergency Regulations. At the same time, in ah attempt counter the movement of protest in the occupied territories, Weizman has declared that he will not accept the resignations of all the mayors of the West Bank, but only those of them “who openly identify with the PLO.”158 Weizman deliberately ignores the fact that the West Bank mayors were all elected in 1976 on a pro-PLO platform. The immediate response of the Palestinian mayors still working — those in the south of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip — is to present their collective resignation.15 9

It is in this context that the new congress takes place. Hundreds of students, together with the Mayors of Ramallah, al-Bireh and Halhoul participate, with the speakers launching into vigorous attacks on the military government. Meanwhile, crowds of Palestinians shout patriotic slogans and songs in support of the PLO as the Palestinian flag flies aloft.1 60

The day is marked by violent demonstrations in Nablus and Ramallah, where shops and schools remain closed. With most schools in the West Bank on strike, demonstrations also take place in Bethlehem, Jenin and al-Bireh. A general strike is announced for 15 November.1 6 1

155. The Guardian, 14/11/79, p. 6. 156. Al-Tali’a, No. 89, 15/11/79, p. 1. 157. Al-Ittihad, 16/11/79, p. 1. 158. Jerusalem Post, 15/11/79, p. 1. 159. Al-Tali’a, No. 89, 15/11/79, p. 1; International Herald Tribune, 15/11/79, p. 1. 160. Davar, 15/11/79, p. 1. 161. Idem ; The Guardian, 15/11/79, p. 8.

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15 November — A popular congress held at the municipality building in Nablus is attended by the resigned mayors of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and representatives of national and popular associations. Village councillors in the Nablus district, together with Mukhtars from towns and villages all over the occupied territories deliver a memorandum to the congress in which they announce their collective resignation. Representatives and officials of various government departments declare before the congress that they will resign if the military authorities try to make them take part in any kind of committees to take over municipal affairs.

In a letter, Bassam al-Shak’a salutes the congress, stressing that the solidarity of the Palestinian masses is foiling the campaign against him. The resigned mayors issue a communique in which they affirm that they will not resume their functions until the Mayor of Nablus is reinstated in his post. They reaffirm their categorical rejection of the autonomy scheme, their attachment to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, “including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent national state,” and their adherence to the PLO, “the sole legitimate representative of our people.” They announce that they “will observe a- hunger strike on Saturday 17 November on the premisies of the International Red Cross in Gaza” as a token of their solidarity with Bassam al-Shak’a.

As they leave the council chamber, on one wall of which a Palestinian flag has been drawn, the mayors are raised on the shoulders of demonstrators, among them 200 women who have been chanting non-stop slogans such as “Palestine for Liberation” and “National Unity.”16 2

The general strike observed the past few days in the main towns in the West Bank extends to East Jerusalem and Hebron and its outlying districts. In the Old City of Jerusalem troops disperse a demonstration staged by young Palestinians and smash the locks on shops. In Nablus, a large number of students and schoolchildren from all over the West Bank join in the sitLin organised five days ago by Palestinian women occupying the Town Hall. The protesters issue a communique in which they demand the immediate release of Bassam al-Shak’a, the cancellation of decrees ordering the expropriation of land in the occupied territories, and an improvment in the conditions of Palestinian prisoners.163 Meanwhile, Israeli troops intensify their patrols in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem to confront the growing wave of protest.164 Gaza Mayor Rashad al-Shawwa, commenting on the demonstrations being staged in his town, says that a people who is living under the yoke of occupation has the right to express its feelings of revolt.16 5

One after another the heads and members of village councils resign. At a meeting in Beit Amer the councillors and Mukhtars of the Hebron district decide to submit their collective resignation. Similar meetings take place in

162. Al-Quds, 16/11/79, p.l; al-Ittihad, 16/11/79, The Guardian,16111H9, vA; Le Monde, 17/11/79 , p.8. Cf. Documents - A, p. 144 for text of the communique. 163 .Al-Quds, 16/11/79, p. 7. 164. International Herald Tribune, 17-18/11/79, p. 2. 165. Al-Quds, op. cit.

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Beit Fajar in the West Bank, and in Beit Hanoun and Ghaz’a in the Gaza Strip.166

In the Palestinian territories annexed in 1948, there is widespread anger among the Palestinian population at the oppressive measures taken against al-Shak’a. The Heads of Local Councils in Deir Hanna, al-Rineh, Kafr Yassif, together with the Nazareth municipality and the representatives of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality in the Abu Sanan local council, send protest cables to Weizman. The Union of Arab Students distributes a communique in the universities, while popular demonstrations occur in Qalansuwa and al-Tireh.16 7

16 November — Bassam al-Shak’a’s hunger strike, which begins the day that the UN General Assembly calls on Israel to rescind the expulsion order against him.168

The Israeli armed forces in East Jerusalem are placed on full alert prior to the Friday Prayers in the Haram al-Sharif. Despite various intimidatory measures and copious checkpoints, more than 10,000 Palestinians gather for the prayers which take on the form of a national demonstration.1 69 A bomb explodes on the road to the Anata Palestinian refugee camp to the north of Jerusalem. Several West Bank mayors are barred access to Jerusalem. Students in al-Najah University in Nablus stage a 24-hour hunger strike.1 70 In Nablus itself, the resigned municipal council meets with representatives of the chamber of commerce, the women’s associations, and the workers and professional unions to discuss means to force the occupation authorities to rescind their decision to deport Bassam al-Shak’a. The General Union of West Bank workers holds a congress in Nablus, in which a communique is issued affirming “the adherence of the working masses to the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” and endorsing the national stand unanimously adopted by the mayors.171

A general strike is observed in all the towns in the occupied territories. The local council in the village of Maythaloun in the Jenin district resigns en masse. In Gaza, the national institutions and associations issue a communique calling for a consolidation of national unity in these critical times.172

In Galilee, a demonstration by more than 500 people is held in Arara, while a major meeting in Umm al-Fahm demands the immediate release of Bassam al-Shak’a and an end to the occupation.17 3

17 November — Hunger Strikes. In accordance with the decision taken on 15 November by the Nablus national congress, twenty West Bank mayors head

166. Idem. 167. Al-Ittihad, 16/11/79, p. 8. 168. The Guardian, 17/11/79, p. 7 ; Le Monde, 18-19/11/79, p. 3. 169. The Guardian, op. cit. ;al-Quds, 17/11/79, p. 1. 110. Jerusalem Post, 18/11/79, p. 1. 171. Al-Quds, 17/11/79, p. 7. 172. Idem. 173. Al-Ittihad, 20/11/79, p. 6.

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for Gaza to stage a hunger strike. They are barred access to the town, where the Red Cross HQ is declared a “forbidden zone” and is cordoned off by troops. The mayors instead hold their hunger strike in the towns of al-Bireh, Nablus and Hebron.174

A general strike is observed by all Palestinian workers employed in Israeli enterprises. Demonstrations are held, principally in Jerusalem and Gaza.175

18 November — Tension remains high in the West Bank. The complete schools and commercial strike continues for the tenth day in Nablus, Ramallah and al-Bireh. The Israeli forces step in on numerous occasions to disperse demonstrations. A military vehicle is set on fire in Hebron and a bus transporting settlers is pelted with stones.17 6

Twenty heads of local councils in the villages of the Triangle and Galilee send a cable to the Minister of Defence denouncing “the repressive measure taken against the Mayor of Nablus, Bassam al-Shak’a, consisting in expelling him from his homeland and driving him away from his people without his having committed any crime.” The local councillors demand that the cam¬ paign of defamation being waged against al-Shak’a be ended. They insist that “the deportation order be annuled,” stressing that the government “is striving to stifle the nationalist voices of the West Bank being raised in oppo¬ sition to the administrative autonomy plan.”177

19 November — The resigned West Bank mayors decide to cancel the meeting which they had planned to hold in Ramallah. Their decision comes following a military government ban preventing the resigned mayors of the Gaza Strip from attending the meeting. Nevertheless, a political meeting is held in Hebron, in the course of 'which Fahd al-Qawasmeh denounces the threat to the Palestinian cause constituted by the Camp David accords, and reaffirms that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. During the morning, a general strike is observed in the town. Meanwhile, the military authorities forbid a delegation of women from Nablus from entering East Jerusalem where they were planning to hold a sit-in at the al-Aqsa Mosque. The sit-in at the Nablus municipality continues. The local council of Deir Istya submits its collective resignation.17 8 In the Gaza Strip, young Palestinians stage a demonstration in Khan Yunis and burn tyres.17 9

20 November — Nablus Congress. In order to prevent the resigned mayors of the West Bank and Gaza Strip from meeting each other, the military government intensifies its control on their movements. The checkpoints erected outside all the towns are given instructions not to allow the mayors

174. Le Monde, 20/11/79, p. 4 \al-Quds, 18/11/79, p. 7. 175. Al-Quds, op. cit. ; Ha’aretz, 18/11/79, p. 1. 176. Jerusalem Post, 18/11/79, p. 1 ; The Guardian, 19/11/79, p. 6 ; Le Monde, op. cit. 177. Ma’ariv, 19/11/79, p. 3. 178. Al-Quds, 20/1 i/79, pp. 2 and 7 ; Jerusalem Post, 20/11/79, p. 2. 179. Davor, 20/11/79, p. 1.

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to leave.180 The Congress held in Nablus, and attended by the national associations of the town and a large local crowd, is no less the spokesman for all the occupied territories despite the Israeli restrictions. The participants in the congress launch an appeal to Bassam al-Shak’a imploring him to end his five-day hunger strike. They also send Weizman a cable affirming that the occupation authorities will be held entirely responsible if any harm should come to the Mayor of Nablus.18 1

21 November — Press Conference, given by ’Aynaya al-Shak’a in Jerusalem in the presence of parliamentary deputy Tewfiq Toubi. The wife of the Mayor of Nablus declares : “Since Bassam’s case began, we (the people of the occupied Palestinian territories) quickly realised, as the progressive (Jewish) forces realised, that the cause of Bassam al-Shak’a... was the cause of a people aspiring to liberate themselves from the occupation of their land and to grasp their natural and legitimate right to self-determination on their land and their right to establish an independent state. The cause of Bassam al-Shak’a is a symbol of the conflict which is being played out in the region with the attempts to impose the occupation by way of the Camp David accords and the so-called administrative autonomy plan. Our people have already declared their rejection of these accords... which deny their most basic rights...”

She goes on to reveal the contents of a letter sent by her husband to Weizman, in which the Mayor of Nablus recalled that when the minister of Defence had summoned him in August 1979 it was to order him to cease all political activity, with Weizman making particular reference to the demonstration in Nablus against the settlement of Elon Moreh. Moreover, Weizman had tried in vain to intimidate him into participating in the autonomy negotiations. The Mayor of Nablus replied on this occasion that the PLO was the only party entitled to speak in the name of the Palestinian people.1 82

22 November — General Strike in East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip on the occasion of the High Court hearing of the Bassam al-Shak’a case. Tulkarm Mayor Hilmi al-Hanoun announces that shops will remain closed until 23 November. Gaza merchants say that they have been threatened with prosecution if they do not work as usual.188

Most of the resigned mayors and local council heads in the West Bank attend the hearing, along with a large crowd of Palestinian citizens and the Rakah party parliamentary deputies. ATShak’a’s entrance gives rise to a veritable demonstration.1 8 4

The High Court of Justice, acceding to the arguments of the Attorney General, rules that al-Shak’a’s defence should appeal to a military review board.1 85

180. Davar, 21/11/79, p. 2. 181. Al-Quds, 21/11/79, p. 1. 182. Al-Ittihad, 23/11/79, p. 8. 183. The Guardian, 23/11/79, p. 8 ; Davar, 23/11/79, p. 3. 184. Al-Ittihad, 23/11/79, p. 1. 185. Al-Ittihad, 23/11/79, p. 8.

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23 November — Sit-in by Palestinian women, at the International Red Cross HQ in East Jerusalem.1 8 6

25 November — Meeting at Beit Hanina. The West Bank mayors, ’Aynaya al-Shak’a and Felicia Langer meet in Beit Hanina to study the most recent developments in the Bassam al-Shak’a case, in particular the rumours spread in the Israeli press according to which this case would be linked to that of the settlement of Elon Moreh. The occupation authorities had in fact mobilised the media in order once more to discredit the Mayor of Nablus by letting it be believed that “negotiations” were under way to engineer the release of al-Shak’a in exchange for his resignation from his post and the withdrawal by the inhabitants of the village of Rujeib of the appeal they had lodged with the Supreme Court against the establishment of the settlement of Elon Moreh on their expropriated land. At the end of the meeting the mayors denounce these rumours and declare that their position remains unchanged, namely demanding the immediate release and reinstatement of the Mayor of Nablus.1 8 7

The town of Nablus observes a two-hour general strike. Demonstrations are staged in most of the towns and villages of the West Bank.1 8 8

26 November — Demonstrations in the West Bank, in all the main towns, including East Jerusalem. A complete strike is observed in East Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah and al-Bireh.1 89

The three-man military review board examining the Bassam al-Shak’a case adjourns the hearing due to be held in Ramleh prison, where al-Shak’a is detained.1 9 0

27 November — Beit Hanina Congress. The resigned mayors of the West Bank and Gaza Strip meet in Beit Hanina and issue a communique declaring their absolute commitment to the decisions of the Ramallah and Nablus congresses affirming that their collective resignation remains in force and will continue to remain so until the rescindment of the decision to deport al-Shak’a and until his release and full reinstatement to his post. Their complete denial of the rumours alleging that concessions were being made with relation to the issue of al-Shak’a’s release in connection with a deal involving a delay in the evacuation of the Elon Moreh settlement site is attested to in the communique. They affirm their right to their land and their homeland, their rejection of the establishment of settlements and they demand that “all settlements established on Palestinian territory be dismantled.” They finally renew their appeal to al-Shak’a that he suspend his hunger strike.191

The protestors staging a sit-in at the Red Cross HQ in Jerusalem issue a

186. Al-Ittihad, 27/11/79, p. 1. 181. Idem., Davar, 26/11/79, p. 1. 188. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. \%9.Ai-Quds, 27/11/79, p. 7. 190. Le Monde ,28/11/79, p. 4 191. Al-Quds, 28/11/79, p. 2.

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communique denouncing in its entirety Israeli policy towards the occupied territories and reaffirming their rejection of the administrative autonomy plan19 2

28 November — Nablus Congress. The mayors and village council heads in the West Bank meet at the Nablus town hall and announce that the Palestinian masses will declare an open general strike if the authorities go through with their decision to deport the Mayor of Nablus.

The participants in the congress head for Ramleh prison, where the military review board is sitting. They are joined there by a women’s delegation, which has come from all over the West Bank.19 3

29 November — Demonstration of Qalqilya. While the military review board is meeting for the second day running, a mass demonstration staged by school students takes place in Qalqilya. The demonstrators protest against the occupation, the Camp David accords and the administrative autonomy scheme.1 94

2 December — East Jerusalem Congress. The national associations, municipalities, village councils, chambers of commerce, workers and professional unions, women’s and students’ associations, and religious and political personalities gather at the Arab Graduates Club. They issue a four-point declaration stating that “if certain measures are taken against the Mayor of Nablus, and if the latter is not reinstated to his post, we will completely reconsider our position with regard to the existence of municipal councils and the exercise of our right to vote.” The threat contained in this point is all the more pertinent because the military review board is due to submit its recommendations on the Bassam al-Shak’a case to the Military Governor of the West Bank. Another point in the declaration notes that the proposed deportation of the Mayor of Nablus is but a link in the chain of plots hatched against the rights of the Palestinian people with the aim of imposing the administrative autonomy scheme.1 9 5

5 December - Release of Bassam al-Shak’a. After a determined, uncompromising struggle, the Palestinian masses of the West Bank and Gaza Strip on 5 December win a resounding victory. United under the guidance of their leaders, they in turn sustained and supported them in all their initiatives. For nigh on a month they obeyed the call to general strike, demonstrated,' and participated in numerous popular congresses. Their leaders, strengthened by this unconditional support, showed themselves equal to the task of bringing low the plot against al-Shak’a.

During a press conference held at Beit El to announce the release of the Mayor of Nablus, Ben Eliezer states that his decision to allow Bassam

192. Al-Ittihad, 30/11/79, p. 1. 193. Idem.; The Guardian, 29/11/79, p. 6.; Jerusalem Post, 29/11/79, p. 1. 194. Al-Ittihad, op. cit. 195. Jerusalem Post, 3/12/79, p. 3 ; al-Ittihad, 4/12/79, p. 1 ; Cf. Documents — A, p. 145 for text of the Declaration.

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al-Shak’a to resume his functions as mayor stems from the fact that al-Shak’a had declared himself opposed to the “murder of innocent people.”196 He thus passes over in silence what Weizman said on 20 November, namely that the decision to deport the Mayor of Nablus was motivated by the fact that he had committed numerous hostile acts toward the occupation, and was not made solely on the basis of the alleged remarks he made in the presence of General Matt.19 7

The hundreds of demonstrators in Nablus making the ‘V’ for victory sign express the general mood. For almost five hours they chant “Palestine is Arab” and “Victory to the fida’yin”,1 98 while in Bethlehem and Jericho the people dance for joy in the1 streets.199 Bassam al-Shak’a, raised aloft in triumph, declares : “I am deeply in debt to this people who helped me to regain my liberty... We are living through an historic moment which is enabling us to push back the closed doors lying between us and victory ; an historic moment which will lead us on to this inevitable victory.”200

6 December — Beit Hanina Congress, attended by the resigned municipalities and village councils of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their collective declaration calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state under the leadership of the PLO. It reiterates absolute rejection of the Camp David accords and the administrative autonomy scheme, and demands the dismantlement of existing settlements in the occupied territories and the suspension of all the measures that have been taken against the'mayors of Ramallah and al-Bireh and those who have supported Bassam al-Shak’a. The participants announce that they have decided to resume their official functions as of Saturday 8 December.2 01

When on that date they come to their respective town halls to start work again, the Palestinian masses come out to greet them, thus expressing their approval of and admiration for the political line followed by the mayors in their campaign to foil the plot against Bassam al-Shak’a, a symbol of the national rejection of the administrative autonomy scheme. Banquets are given in his honour in East Jerusalem (13 December), Hebron (14 December), Bir Zeit (15 December), and Ramallah (16 December). On each of these occasions the speakers reaffirm the national demands of the Palestinian masses of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, principal among them the establishment of an independent state under the leadership of the PLO.202

17 December — Congress of Nablus and Ramallah. The national associations of districts of Ramallah and Nablus hold a congress and adopt one final

196. Davar, 6/12/79, p. 3. 197. Jerusalem Post, 21/11/79, p. 2. 198. Le Monde, 7/12/79, p. 3. 199. Jerusalem Post, 6/12/79, p. 1. 200. Al-Ittihad, 7/12/79, p. 1. 201. Al-Ittihad, al-Quds, and International Herald Tribune, 7/12/79, p. 1. 202. Al-Quds, 9/12/79, p. 2 ; 12/12/79, p. 4 ; 15/12/79, p. 1 ; 16 and 17/12/79, p. 4 ; al-TalVa, No. 94, 20/12/79, p. 3.

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resolution denouncing “the intensification of the vile campaign of implantation on the land of our homeland and the overt collusion between the Israeli authorities and the racist cohorts of the Gush Emunim.” The participants in the congress reveal that colonisation has become more intense since the signing of the conspiratorial Camp David accords...” They affirm “... that Palestinian land, private or public, is the property of the Palestinian people.”203

203. Al-Ittihad, 21/12/79, pp. 1 and 2. The participants in the congress send a message to UN Secretary- General Dr. Kurt Waldheim, condemning «Israel’s determined pursuit of her settlement policy, as repre¬ sented by her settlement programmes concealed under various guises, such as the seizure of land... public and private... This policy is inimical to the pursuit of a just and lasting peace.» Cf. Documents A, p. 146 for text of the resolution.

II — Documents

DOCUMENTS A - THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

Communique issued by West Bank national institutions condemning President Carter’s visit to the region1

11 March 1979

We, the Arab Palestinian people in the occupied Arab territories, as represented by our national institutions, the municipalities, chambers of commerce, professional and workers’ associations, benevolent societies and national figures, on the basis of our unwavering faith in the justice of our cause and our legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state under the leadership of our sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, reiterate our firm and announced position : First — The USA, with its hostile policy towards the Arab people, and the Palestinian people in particular, is not the appropriate party to deal with the Palestinian question and to provide a solution to it in the interest of right and justice. Second — Carter’s visit to the region is merely one episode in the conspiracy against our people which took on a new impetus beginning with Sadat’s initiative and moving on to the Camp David accords and the subsequent meetings at Leeds Castle, Blair House and elsewhere. Third — The Camp David accords revealed the true nature of the conspiracy against our people by ignoring their right as an Arab Palestinian people to self-determination in their territory and to establish their independent state under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and through attempting to consecrate a fragmentation of the Palestinian people by ignoring the majority of our people who are outside Palestine. The base conspiratorial nature of the accords was further demonstrated by their consideration of our people in the occupied territories as a group of

1. WAFA (Beirut), 12/3/79, p.6.

136

inhabitants without a distinct nationality, whose problems could be solved by complying with some of their daily economic or social interests.

Thus can be seen the base intentions concealed behind the self-rule scheme springing from the Camp David accords which is no more than a means to the realisation of the goals of imperialism and of Israel and its agents. Fourth — In the light of all the above, we declare our outright rejection of the Camp David accords and everything stemming from them. We hold that a separate peace between Sadat and Israel, or any agreements between the USA, Israel and Sadat, is no more than another link in the conspiracy against our people and an attempt to salvage the frail and defeated position of imperialism, Arab reaction and Israel. We further declare that peace can only be achieved by according the Palestinian people their right to the establishment of their independent state on their territory under the leadership of the PLO. And finally we reiterate from our occupied lands that no one possesses the right to speak in the name of our people except our sole legitimate leadership, the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Communique issued by the Jerusalem Congress rejecting the policies of the Egyptian regime2

23 March, 1979

The participants at the Jerusalem Congress adopted the following resolutions : 1. The assembled affirm their opposition to the policy of the Egyptian ruler

in opposing the will and nationalist aspirations of the Arab masses by signing the separate peace treaty with Israel, an act which is devoid of the responsibility of common nationalist commitment.

2. The separate peace treaty is no more than an American peace imposed on Israeli terms and constitutes the liquidation of the Palestinian cause in its capacity as the essence of the Arab-Israeli conflict and a denial of the cause of national liberation for the Palestinian people and of their right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with its capital Jerusalem.

3. The administrative autonomy plan contained in the treaty is no more than an overt conspiracy to sanctify the occupation and accord legitimacy to its perpetuation, and as such it is rejected in whole and in part.

4. Total commitment to the unity of the Arab Palestinian people inside and outside the occupied territories and utter rejection of any attempt to split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

5. The assembled reject the attempt to set up a trustee over the Palestinian

2. WAFA (Beirut), 25/3/79.

137

people and a negotiator on their behalf, and they renew their affirmation that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, holding any engagements or commitments of the kind mentioned above to be null and void...3

Signatories to the communique :

Sheikh Saadeddine al-‘Alani Anwar al-Khatib Sheikh ‘Akrameh Sabri Jiryis Khoury Dr. Samir Katibi Ismail al-Taziz Dr. Amin al-Khatib Hassan Shahbur Dr. Salim Ma‘tuq Sheikh ‘Ali al-Taziz Sa‘id ‘Ala al-Din Daoud Istanbouli Hassan al-Afin Justice Taysir Kan‘an Justice Hassan Abu Maizar Dr. Abdel Muhsin Hammam Nabil al-Tzzeh Marwan al-‘Asali Fa‘iq Barakat Mousa al-Baitar Zuhdi al-Hashwa

Salah al-Zahifi

Mufti and religious judge of Jerusalem Custodian of Jerusalem Director of the Jerusalem Department Lawyers Union Representative Doctors Union Representative Pharmacists Union Representative Head of the Charities Federation Director of Islamic Endowments Head of Red Crescent Society (Jerusalem) Head of the Chamber of Commerce Islamic Association member Agricultural Engineering Union Representative Engineers Union Representative

Dentists Union Representative Jerusalem Electric Co. Union Representative Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce member Director of Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce Member of the Jerusalem Trust Member of the Jerusalem Lawyers Sub-Committee Citizens Association Representative

The administration of the Arab Graduates Association : Dr. Abdallah Sabri ; Hisham Khalil Tssa ; Zuhaira Kamal ; Sa‘id Abd al-Latif al-Husseini ; Hassan al-‘Afm ; Dr. Peter Cadbury.

Communique issued by the municipalities and national institutions in the West Bank denouncing the signing of a separate peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.4

26 March, 1979

We make the following points : 1. The US has abandoned the international framework for the establishment

of a just and permanent peace in Palestine, and this is inconsistent with the principles of the UN and international law.

2. President Sadat has, by his capitulationist initiative, infringed the will of the Arab nation and deviated from the Arab course of action to recover the just Arab rights to occupied Palestine.

3. The Carter-Begin-Sadat trio is trying to achieve the political objectives their partnership represents. This trio is advancing rapidly towards the establishment of a political-military alliance designed to oppose the aspirations of the Palestinian people and the Arab nation and to constitute

3. Idem ; al-Ittihad , 6/7/79 , p.2 4. WAFA (Beirut), 26/3/79, p. 11.

138

a base for the interests of imperialism, with Israel as its foundation and supported by Sadat’s Egypt. Therefore the consequences of the agreement are confined to this clear and ignominious framework. Here lies the true reason for the trio’s disregard of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, which include total Israeli military and colonial withdrawal from our territory, the return of Arab Jerusalem to its owners, and the exercise by the Palestinian people of their right to self-determination, to establish their free and independent state in their territory and their homeland, and to the full recovery of all their legitimate rights. The agreement has confirmed the hostile intentions harboured and the actions taken by the three parties — the US, Israel and Egypt — and is a true expression of their intentions to conspire against the Palestinian people, who alone are entitled to their territory and their homeland. Similarly, the following should be noted :

First — The clear statements issued by Begin, Dayan and Weizman indicating their rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state ; Second — The military agreements between the US and Israel, the vast subsidies for the building of settlements, and the military bases designed to strike at the Palestinian people and the Arab nation ; Third — The declarations by President Sadat and officials in his government on the need for military rearmament against liberation movements world¬ wide ; Fourth — Utter indifference to the reactions on the Palestinian national, Arab and international levels, and persistence in the conspiracy against our great people.

We finally reiterate the position of our Palestinian people, based on attachment to our people’s just national rights, declaring the following : First — Condemnation and rejection of Sadat’s initiative and the Camp David accords and all their consequences, in particular this latest agreement ; Second — Total commitment to the national unity of our Arab Palestinian people under the leadership of their sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organisation ; Third — Our complete and heartfelt support for the resolutions of the Stead¬ fastness and Confrontation Conference and the resolutions of the Baghdad Summit Conference ; Fourth — We consider the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from occupied Palestinian territory, including military installations and civilian settlements, and the exercise by the Palestinian people of their right to self-determina¬ tion, to establish their free and independent state in their territory, and to the full recovery of all their legitimate rights, to be the only just, lasting and genuine basis to peace ; Fifth — Outright rejection of self-rule, in all its forms, which we regard as a US-Israeli plot to consecrate the occupation and consolidate it for the realisation of their aims against the Palestinian people and the Arab nation ; consequently we consider it to be a threat to a just peace. Sixth — We call on the states of the Baghdad Summit and the Steadfastness and Confrontation Conference to implement their resolutions for con¬ fronting Sadat’s conspiracy, and we appeal to the Arab nation to stand firm in the face of this conspiracy which threatens its existence and its unity.

139

Communique issued by the Jerusalem Congress to mark the Day of the Land.5

29 March, 1979

We, the representatives of municipal councils, clubs, workers’ and professional unions, students’ and women’s unions and the various popular institutions in the occupied territories — meeting today in Jerusalem we declare the following : 1. — Rejection and condemnation of the separate peace treaty signed by the

agent of imperialist interests, the traitor Anwar al-Sadat, with the Zionist entity, with the blessing of President Carter, the leader of the foremost imperialist state.

2. — Rejection and denunciation of the role played by the US in the region and what has resulted from it, namely the establishment of the US-Zionist-reactionary pact under the leadership of Carter, Begin and Sadat respectively.

3. — Rejection of and resistance to the self-rule scheme in the occupied territories which consecrates the pursuance of Zionist colonialism in our occupied land, denies the rights of our Palestinian people, negates the goal of national independence for our people and ignores the Palestine Libera¬ tion Organisation, the sole legitimate representative of our people.

4. — Affirmation of the need to confront the assiduous settlement campaign in the occupied territories. We call on all the Palestinian masses resolutely and forcefully to fight.against all the attempts at land confiscation and the establishment of settlements by the Zionist gangs.

5. — Denunciation of the arbitrary and oppressive practices by the occupa¬ tion authorities against our masses in the occupied territories, and in particular we declare our stand of solidarity with our steadfast comrades in Halhoul and demand that the Zionist authorities lift their curfew from the town.

6. — We utterly abhor the attempts by Meir Kahane to attack the holy al-Aqsa Mosque and we affirm our resolve to defend our holy places and to confront any attempt at their desecration.

7. - Commitment to the right of our people to return, self-determination and the establishment of an independent state under the leadership of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of our people and the leader of their struggle.

8. — We hail the struggle of our Palestinian people and of those living under the rule of the racist Zionist occupation ; we hail the struggle of the Regional Lands Defence Committee, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, and the heads of the local Arab committees, and finally with pride and reverence we hail the martyrs who fell in defence of Palestinian land on the glorious Day of the Land.

5. WAFA (Beirut), 30/3/79, p. 5.

140

Communique issued by the Hebron Municipality condemning attacks by Israeli settlers on the inhabitants of the town/

19 June 1979.

As a result of the assiduous settlement campaign, aiming to entrench the occupation of Palestinian lands, and concentrated on the goal of uprooting the Palestinian people standing steadfast on the soil of their cherished homeland, to the extent that a group of settlers penetrated to the very heart of Hebron to take over the al-Dibwiyeh building, under the protection of the occupation forces. As a result of this and other outrages committed by the settlers,... the municipal council held an emergency session at the time scheduled for the larger meeting in order to discuss these attacks. The following resolutions were adopted :

2. — Denunciation of the occupation of the al-Dibwiyeh building by a group of Israeli settlers, and calling on the military government to evict the settlers without any delay.

3. — Denunciation of the aggressive practices of settlers from Kiryat Arba’ and the Gush Emunim against the citizens of Hebron, including breaking into homes and beating the occupants, mass shows of force in the streets of the town, blocking the way for passers-by, attempts at provocation and incitement directed against the people in the town, cutting down vines...

4. — Denunciation of the closure of universities and schools and the practice of failing all the students in certain classes, as occurred in Ramallah, Bir Zeit and Bethlehem.

5. — Condemnation of the closure of hospitals, specifically the decision of the Israeli authorities to close the Hospice Hospital in Jerusalem and the National Hospital in Nablus. The municipal council in this context declares its support for the demands tabled by the Doctors’ Association and the Chamber of Commerce in Jerusalem that the Government Hospital in the Sheikh Jarrah quarter of Jerusalem and the May dan Hospital in Beiteen be vacated by the Israeli authorities so as to enable the citizens to reopen them and thereby fill the deficiency in medical services which they have been suffering from since 1967.

6. — The municipal council finally reaffirms its firm stand in rejecting the Camp David accords and their implications, including the self-rule scheme, and stresses the justness of Palestinian national demands.

Communique issued by the Palestinian National Institutions of Nablus condemning measures taken by the occupation authorities following demonstrations against land expropriation.7

1 July 1979

At a time when there is growing concern around the world for peace in

6. WAFA (Beirut), 22/6/79. 7. WAFA (Beirut) 2/7/79, p. 3.

141

the Middle East, the Israeli government has become increasingly protective of its acquisitions obtained through racist expansionism and under the cloak of colonialist hegemony over the world. It has likewise become still more assiduous in establishing a fait accompli in the occupied territories by means of a wide range of oppressive measures such as the closure of universities, the curtailing of freedoms, collective intimidation, threatening the lives of citizens, their means of subsistence, their jobs, their future, and most recently through stepping up their campaign of confiscating the land of citizens and establishing settlements on it. Moreover, the Israeli government and the military occupation authorities have encouraged demonstrations and marches by the Gush Emunim and other such groups with the aim of whipping up racist feeling so that they can implement their expansionist policies and create a new social, economic and military reality at the expense of the rights and very existence of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. The most recent instances in this campaign have been the settlement of Elon Moreh, the expropriation of 3,500 dunums of land belonging to Salfit village for the expansion of the settlement of Ariel, the expropriation of 1,000 dunums of land on Mt. ’Aybal, the establishment of the settlement of Karnei Shomron B, to follow Karnei Shomron A, a building ban on 7,000 dunums of land belonging to Anata village in the Jerusalem region, with more settlement activity on the way. The natural corollary of this has been the struggle of our people against these policies in all sorts of ways with the aim of bringing this assiduous and aggressive campaign to a halt, and as an expression of their firm attachment to their rights and their existence on the soil of their homeland. Memoranda were produced, protests were lodged, and matters were taken up and pursued, not in the illusion that they would produce direct results which would safeguard our people’s interests and realise their rights, but so that each time a clear exposure could be made of new horizons of these racist, expansionist and criminal policies which the authorities, with all their institutions, attempt to cover up with justifications and arguments whose basis is completely unsound.... We denounce the following measures : 1. —The summonsing of the heads and members of the municipalities, as

well as hundreds of citizens for interrogation on charges of participating in an illegal march who were released on bail pending trial.

2. — The summonsing of the employees of the Nablus municipality for interrogation.

3. — The arrest of dozens of citizens. 4. — Preventing a number of students from travelling to sit for their

examinations, and imposing a similar travel ban on many merchants, leading personalities, municipality heads and others.

5. — An extensive propaganda campaign aiming to cover up these practices by the Israeli authorities and justify the escalation of vindictive measures against the town of Nablus,, its mayor, municipal councillors, representatives and other figures. This campaign furthermore reveals the malicious intentions of the authorities and the real dimensions of their measures, which extend to the danger of deportation or dismissal from positions of responsibility as a preliminary to the implementation of aggressive and expansionist schemes.

142

We forthrightly condemn all these measures, while noting that they are part and parcel of the plan which the Israeli government has announced its determination to follow through, namely the application of administrative autonomy within the framework of the capitulationist Camp David accords, which have already been unanimously rejected by our people. This factor adds to the danger inherent in these measures and their consequences.8

Communique issued by Ramallah and al-Bireh municipalities on the mock trial of Mayors Khalaf and Tawil.9

15 October 1979

The fearless confrontation by our people against the self-rule scheme using all the means available to them, through their popular conferences, seminars, communiques, memoranda, shows the extent of their awareness of these conspiracies and their attachment to their legitimate rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination. The national institutions, and in particular the municipal councils, have played a leading and positive role in this confrontation, and in the face of this steadfast stand taken by our people the authorities have resorted to an escalation of their barbaric attacks on our people in South Lebanon in an attempt to neutralise the Palestinian National Movement as a preliminary to its destruction. At the same time they have intensified their oppressive and racist campaign against our people inside the occupied land with the aim of bringing them to their knees and emasculating them by means of a policy of faits accomplis paving the way for acceptance of the humiliating self-rule scheme. The occupation authorities have proceeded to implement this oppressive policy through stepping up land confiscation, the establishment of settlements, the demolition of houses, the closure of universities, institutes and schools, arrest and deportation of students, the imposition of collective punishment, constant provocation and harrassment of citizens, restricting the freedom of citizens and threatening the sources of their livelihood, their sustenance and their future.

It was only natural that the counterpart to this policy should have been our people’s struggle against it through all the various means available to them, dedicated to stopping this assiduous racist campaign in its tracks, and as an expression of their commitment to their rights and their existence on the soil of their homeland. They sent out memoranda and protests, they held meetings, and in court they contested land expropriation cases and the establishment of settlements. One of the most notable of the latter was the suit brought by landowners in al-Bireh against the establishment of the settlement of Beit El on their private land. Again, it was only natural for the mayors and municipal councillors of Ramallah and al-Bireh to attend the

8. The signatories to this communique : — The Mayors of Nablus, Anabta, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Salfit ; the General Federation of Trade Unions ; the Union of Charitable Societies; the Student Council of al-Najah University. 9. WAFA, (Beirut), 15/10/79.

143

court sessions together with all the other representatives of institutions in the two towns. The security guards at the court prevented Arab citizens from entering the courtroom, while at the same time allowing unimpeded access to Israeli settlers. Moreover, they began to provoke the Arab citizens who had arrived, led by Karim Khalaf and Ibrahim al-Tawil.

Tear gas was sprayed in their faces as part of a scheme to goad the two mayors into an act of aggression, but their awareness of these intentions and their lack of response to the provocation deprived the authorities of the opportunity to ensnare them, then as now. In keeping with their barbaric policy of repression aiming to abort all resistance by our people and to strike at and liquidate their national institutions, the occupation authorities are launching various propaganda campaigns and spreading false allegations as a preliminary to bringing the two mayors to trial on charges of creating a disturbance in a public place and attacking a policeman.

In view of all the above, the municipalities of Ramallah and al-Bireh affirm the following : 1. Rejection of the self-rule scheme in whole and in part, and reiteration of

our position that the Camp David accords constitute a conspiracy for the liquidation of the cause of our Palestinian people.

2. We declare our commitment to our right to self-determination, independence and sovereignty over our land, and the establishment of our independent Palestinian state under the leadership of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of our people.

3. The right of our people to confront the measures of the occupation by all available and possible ways and means.

4. We consider this plot hatched against Karim Khalaf and Ibrahim Suleiman al-Tawil, the Mayors of Ramallah and al-Bireh respectively, to be an inseparable part of the conspiracy to prevent the national institutions from playing their national role, as a preliminary to the imposition of the self-rule scheme and carried out by means of replacing the leaders of these institutions by puppets, thereby facilitating the implementation of the conspiracy.

Communique issued by the municipality of Nablus denouncing the terror practised against the municipalities in the West Bank1 0

8 November 1979

In the face of the continuous aggressive measures taken by the Israeli military occupation forces against the various municipalities, and specifically that of Nablus, as represented by the Mayor - or, in his absence, the members of the municipal council — in the face of this we declare the following :

10. WAFA, (Beirut), 9/11/79,p.6.

144

I — The entire municipal council is of one accord that : 1. They are an indivisible part of the Palestinian people wherever they may be ; 2. They cannot be dissociated from their cause, the common cause of every Palestinian ; 3. The municipal council condemns the continuing occupation, and accordingly denounces all measures taken with a view to perpetuating this occupation under any pretext whatsoever ; 4. The council considers the continuation of the occupation to constitute an act of aggression against the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the return of their refugees, and the establishment of their independent state on their land ; 5. The municipal council joins the Palestinian people everywhere in considering the PLO to be its sole legitimate representative.

II — The elected municipal council, on the basis of its being under the occupation authorities, considers that it is entitled and empowered to carry out its responsibilities as decreed by the “law,” above all in conformity with the national interest of the municipality.

III — We denounce the intimidatory measures taken by the military authorities on numerous occasions against the municipalities and their Mayors, and the concoction of pretexts to place them under threat of “legal” proceedings, these measures being the preliminary to the implementation of the Camp David conspiracy, and in particular the liquidationist self-rule scheme contained in it. The most recent instance of these measures is the campaign of provocation to which Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a has been exposed following his meeting with the Military Co-ordinator of Affairs in the Occupied Territories and the subsequent... threat of action being taken against him, specifically deportation. All this goes to show the true intentions of the Military Co-ordinator with relation to the Mayor and the municipal council.

Communique issued by resigned municipalities and local councils in the West Bank and Gaza Strip denouncing the decision to deport the Bassam al- Shak’a.1 1

15 November 1979

The occupation authorities, with the aim of consecrating their occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories, of Judaising them and emptying them of their Arab inhabitants, have been launched on an extensive campaign since the Camp David accords and the separate peace agreements. For the implementation of this scheme, hostile to the aspirations of our people, the Israeli authorities have proceeded to expand their campaign of colonisation,

11. WAFA, (Beirut), 16/11/79, pp.*14-16.

145

establishing numerous settlements and closing off or confiscating vast stretches of occupied Arab land, in an application of the policy of Judaisation and as a preliminary to the imposition of the self-rule scheme. The arrest of Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a in preparation for his deportation from his homeland is not an isolated incident, preceded as it was by the dismissal of Mayors Beshara Daoud and Khaled al-Awad of Beit Jala and Qabatiya respectively, and the bringing to trial of Mayors Karim Khalaf and Ibrahim al-Tawil of Ramallah and al-Bireh. These measures are links in the chain of the occupation authorities’ conspiracies aimed at the masses of our people and their national forces in the occupied Arab territories, in the belief that through these means they will be able to blunt the edge of our people’s national hostility and break their resistance to the expansionist policy of colonisation.

The masses of our people have rejected these measures and taken up the stand of one man, Bassam al-Shak’a, to tell the occupiers that they will not bow down or be coerced, and they will not yield one inch of the land of their homeland. The municipal council of Nablus has stood behind its militant Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a, as have the other municipal and village councils in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, announcing their collective resignation in solidarity with him in his struggle.

The municipal councils in the West Bank and Gaza Strip hereby affirm the following : 1. The Palestine Liberation Organisation is the sole legitimate representative

of our Arab Palestinian people. 2. Our people’s committed attachment to their legitimate rights, foremost

among them their right to self-determination and the establishment of their sovereign independent state.

3. The outright rejection by the masses of our people of the self-rule scheme and all the provisions of the treacherous Camp David accords.

4. The insistence of the resigned municipal councils that they will not withdraw their resignations unless the decision to deport Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a is rescinded and he is released and reinstated to his post as Mayor of Nablus.

5. The resigned municipal and village councils hereby announce their intention to state a hunger-strike on Saturday November 17, 1979 in the Red Cross Society Headquarters in Gaza in solidarity with Bassam al-Shak’a and his comrades detained in al-Ramleh Prison, who are themselyes on hunger-strike.

Communique issued by the Jerusalem Congress on the decision to deport Mayor Shak’a12

2 December 1979

We, the representatives of the .Islamic and Christian religious bodies in the

12. WAFA, (Beirut), 3/12/79, pp. 5-7.

146

West Bank and Gaza Strip, the municipalities and higher institutions, chambers of commerce, students unions, associations, professional and workers’ unions, charitable societies, and the Palestinian women’s federation, assembled today in occupied Jerusalem, salute the national position adopted by the consensus of our Palestinian people in all its various groups and institutions protesting the decision to deport Bassam al-Shak’a, Mayor of Nablus. We affirm our determination to continue our struggle for the overturning of the iniquitous deportation decision and for the reinstatement of the Mayor of Nablus, and in this context we renew our appreciation for the support and encouragement we have received from Arab and international circles and all forces in favour of a just peace and Palestinian human rights in their homeland. This support is further confirmation of the justice of our stand, which we summarise as follows : 1. The deportation of Nablus Mayor Bassam al-Shak’a is but a link in the

chain of the conspiracy against the rights of our Palestinian people aiming to cow them into accepting the Camp David accords and the administrative autonomy plan, which have been rejected by our people in occupied Palestine and outside, as they have been rejected by the Arab nation and all the true friends of the Palestinian people, as was made clear in the UN General Assembly resolution adopted on November 30, 1979.

2. Our people’s insistence on the reinstatement of the Mayor of Nablus to his post is uncompromising and provides a clear indication of their rejection of the conspiratorial schemes for the imposition of the administrative autonomy. In the light of this, we confirm our outright rejection of these solutions and practices, and declare our resolute attachment to our right to self-determination on our land and in our homeland and to the establishment of our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and under the leadership of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

3. We express our utter condemnation of the illegal practices of the Israeli occupation, in particular the projects of colonisation on our land, and we call on the whole world to stand by the Palestinian people in the occupied territories as, defenseless, they confront these attacks.

4. We declare clearly and unequivocally that in the event of any action being taken against the Mayor of Nablus and of his not being reinstated to his post, we will review in a thorough and comprehensive manner the worth of the municipal council’s existence and of the exercice of our electoral rights.

Resolution issued by the joint Ramallah and Nablus denouncing the intensifi¬ cation of settlement activities since Camp David.1 3

17 December 1979

We have noted that this settlement campaign has intensified in its scope

13. WAFA, (Beirut), 18/12/79, p. 10.

147

and its vigour since the signing of the conspiratorial agreements in Camp David, and we attribute the shared responsibility for the implementation of this conspiracy to the United States and the Egyptian regime. We affirm our outright rejection of the extensive and blatantly misleading attempts to divide Palestinian land into the categories of “state-owned” and “privately owned” in order to give the false impression of respect for private property, and to deceive world public opinion, while resorting to the artifice of transferring settlements from privately owned land to “state-owned” land. We affirm that Palestinian land, whether it be private or public, belongs to the whole Palestinian people, and is consequently the private property of Palestinian individuals. We further affirm our complete and utter rejection of settlement in all its forms, and direct to world public opinion and all forces desiring peace and justice a call for solidarity in order to confront this settlement campaign which contradicts all international conventions and norms. We finally declare our complete allegiance to our sole legitimate representative the PLO, condemning any attempt to impose tutelage over it, from whatever quarter, and reiterating our adherence to our right to self-determination and the establishment of our independent Palestinian state on our national soil and under our legitimate leadership.

DOCUMENTS B - ISRAELI SETTLEMENT POLICY

Master Plan for the Development of Settlement in Judea and Samaria 1979-1983

by Matityalm Drobless1

I. Introduction

For some considerable time now the lack has been felt of a compre¬ hensive, well-founded and professional plan of settlement for Judea and Samaria (J&S). Therefore, upon my assumption of the post of head of the Jewish Agency’s land settlement department and head of the rural settlement department of the World Zionist Organisation, I began, with the help of the first-rate and highly experienced staff in the department, to seek out various possibilities for the consolidation of a general master plan in J&S whose implementation would extend, in the first stage, five years. At the center of this examination stands a comprehensive and systematic land survey, which is still in its midst [sic]. When the survey is completed, it is probable that we will be able to plan the disposition of settlements addi¬ tional to those proposed below. The following are the principles which guided the plan : 1. Settlement throughout the entire Land of Israel is for security and by

right. A strip of settlements at strategic sites enhances both internal and external security alike, as well as making concrete and realizing our right to Eretz Israel.

2. The disposition of the proposed settlements will be implemented according to a settlement policy of blocs of settlements in homogeneous settlement areas which are mutually interrelated — this enabling, in time, the development of common services and means of production. Moreover, in the wake of the expansion and development of the community settle¬ ments, some of them may even combine, in the course of time, into an

1. United Nations document, A/34/605, 22/10/79, p. 4.

149

urban settlement which would consist of all the settlements in that particular bloc. Only in four instances was there no choice but to propose the establishment of an isolated settlement in an area, due to territorial and land limitations at the site.

3. The disposition of the settlements must be carried out not only around the settlements of the minorities, but also in between them, this in accordance with the settlement policy adopted in Galilee and in other parts of the country... Therefore the proposed settlement blocs are situated as a strip surrounding the (Judea & Samaria) ridge — starting from its western slopes from north to south, and along its eastern slopes from south to north : both between the minorities population and around it.

II. Disposition of the Settlements

REIHANBLOC It is proposed to establish a new settlement in this bloc — Reihan B — to go

up west of the village of Arakah. This will be a settlement based on agriculture and industry, and which will have after one year 50 families, and within five years 100 families.

There are presently two settlements in this bloc : Reihan (which it is proposed to thicken by adding 50 families in the first year and lOOby the end of five years) ; and Mei-Ami (an additional 80 families). In addition, there are already plans for establishing in this bloc the settlements of Mei-Ami B and Barkai B, with each of them to have 50 families at the end of the first year and 100 families at the end of five years.

The Reihan Bloc settlements will be moshavim (smallholders’ collective settlement) based on a combination of agriculture and industry.

MAARAVBLOC Here it is proposed to establish four new agricultural settlements which will

constitute a strip descending from north to south on the border of the green line, with the farming areas to lie west of that line. Each of the four settle¬ ments will have 50 families in the first year and 100 families within five years. Maarav A will go up southeast of Kafin village, Maarav B will be southeast of Baka-al-Gharbiyeh ; Maarav C would be east of Kibbutz Bahan (and south of Maarav B) ; and Maarav D is slated for east of Tulkarm.

The Maarav Bloc settlements will be linked by a new national highway parallel to the Nahal Iron road, which will pass be Baka-al-Gharbiyeh and continue to Kfar Sava.

DOTAN REGION At this stage one site has been found for settling this bloc : The Mirka

junction, which overlooks the Dotan Valley. Here it is proposed that a large community settlement be established, to be called Dotan, to be inhabited after the first year of the project’s implementation by 150 families and after five years by 500 families.

SLA’IT BLOC Two settlements already exist in this bloc: Sla’it and Zur-Natan. For the

150

two of them together it is proposed that another 100 families be added in the first year and 200 families at the end of five years.

SHOMRONBLOC Here it is proposed that two new community settlements be established :

Maaleh Nahal (north of the village of Bourkan), and Maaleh Nahal B on Jabl Yazzid (east of Maaleh Nahal). Each of these two settlements will be populated by 100 families in the first year and by 300 families after five years. To date two settlements have been established in this bloc : Sanour and Shomron. For each, it is proposed to add 50 families in the first year and 200 families within five years.

KEDUMIM BLOC In addition to the already existing settlement of Kedumim (to which it is

proposed to add 50 families in the first year and 200 by the end of five years), it is proposed to establish another three community settlements, to be based on industry and intensive agriculture : Kedumim B, at a site located at “Imam Ali” (north of Kedumim)2 ; Kedumim C, at Ras-a-Bayyad (south¬ east of Kedumim) ; Kedumim D, at a site on A-Ras (south of the village of Tal). Each of these settlements will have 100 families in the first year and 300 families at the end of five years.

The Shomrom and Kedumim Blocs will be linked by an electricity grid which today ends at the town Anabath. This line will be extended to the Shomron settlement and from there lines will be set up to the rest of the settlements in the two Blocs.

The water supply system for the settlements in these two Blocs will be based on local well-drillings. There are todae two drillings, at Kedumim and at Beit Abba. Should the need arise (and in accordance with the detailed plan to be drawn up and implemented in the future) the drilling of additional wells in these areas should be considered.

KARNEISHOMRON BLOC Here it is proposed to establish four new community settlements: Karnei

Shomron B (south of Karnei Shomron), Karnei Shomron C (east of Karnei Shomron), Karnei Shomron D (southeast of Karnei Shomron C) and Karnei Shomron E (east of Karnei Shomron C). Each of these settlements will have 100 families in the first year and 300 families after five years.

With respect to the urban settlements in this Bloc — Karnei Shomron and Elkana - it is proposed to add 200 families to each of them in the first year, and 800 families each by the end of five years.

ARIEL BLOC In this Bloc the urban settlement of Ariel (Haris) has already been estab¬

lished, which it is proposed to thicken by adding 260 families in the first year of the plan’s execution and 1,500 families by the end of five years. This

2. A gravesite which is sacred to Muslims, located 3.5 kms. southeast of Sha’ar Hagai. Named after Imam Ali ; a holy man who appears in a famous Arab legend.

151

settlement lies on the Samaria transverse road, which links the center of the country with the Jordan Rift.

In addition to these existing and planned settlements it is proposed to establish, on Hill 386, a new community settlement, Matityanu B (west of the village of Bil’in). This settlement will be populated by 100 families after one year and by 300 families after five years.

NEVEH-ZUF BLOC In addition to the already existing community settlement of Neveh-Zuf (to

which it is proposed to add another 50 families in the first year and 200 after five years), it is proposed to establish in this bloc three new community settlements : Neveh-Zuf B, at Hirbet Rushniyeh (southwest of Neveh-Zuf) Neveh-Zuf C (north of Neveh-Zuf) and Neveh-Zuf D (northeast of Neveh- Zuf) — the latter two near Kafr Ayin. Each of these three settlements will, according to the plan, have 100 families in the first year and 300 families within five years.

Neveh-Zuf already has an electric line hookup. The water supply will be from the direction of Bir-Zeit, from the Ramallah water line.

MODUM BLOC Four settlements - on both sides of the green line - already exist here,

united within the Modiim regional council. For the settlements ofShilat, Kfar Ruth and Mevoh Moddim, an additional 20 families each is proposed for the first year and 80 families within five years. For Mevoh Horon the figures are 50 families and 150 families within five years. Also planned for this area is the settlement of Matityahu, which is expected to be inhabited bv 100 families in the first year and 300 families five years later.

* In addition to these existing and planned settlements it is proposed to estab¬ lish, on Hill 386, a new community settlement, Matityahu B (west of the village of Bil’in). This settlement will be populated by 100 families after one year and by 300 families after five years.

GIVON BLOC Two settlements exist in this area : Beit Horon (a community settlement for

which 200 more families are proposed within five years) and Givon, which was originally slated as an urban settlement but which, it is proposed — due to land limitations there — be a community settlement to which 150 families will be added within five years. Instead, it is proposed to establish on a hill north of Givon, a new urban settlement, Givon B, to be inhabited by 500 families in the first year and by 3,000 families after five years. It is also proposed to establish, west of Givon B, a new community settlement, Givon C, where 100 families would live at the end of the first year and 300 after five years.

ETZIONBLOC (GUSH ETZION) Six settlements already exist here : Rosh Tzurim (where an additional 30

families would come within five years), Elon Shvut (an additional 100 families within five years), Kfar Etzion (20 more families), Elazar (another 15 families), Migdal Oz (another 70 families within five years) and Tekoah

152

(which it is proposed become an urban settlement because of its relative distance from the other Etzion Bloc settlements), which would have another 200 families within one year and 800 families after five years. Planned for this Bloc is the settlement of Haforit, to be based on agriculture and industry (50 families in the first year and 100 at the end of five years).

There was a suggestion to establish an urban settlement — Efrat - at a site located south of Bethlehem, but ground conditions there do not enable such extensive development, so it is proposed that this be a community settle¬ ment. In addition to Efrat it is proposed to establish another four com¬ munity settlements in this Bloc : Etzion B, in the Beit Fajr Forest (between Migdal Oz and Kfar Etzion), Etzion C, at Givat Hamukhtar (west of Kfar Etzion), Elazar B, at Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim (northeast of Elazar) and Nahalim (West of Nahalin village). Each of the five settlements mentioned would have 100 families in the first year and 300 families five years later.

This new disposition of Etzion Bloc settlements will form a territorial continuity with the settlements of the Adulam District. (The Adulam District lies between Beit Shemesh and Beit Goubrin.)

TARKUMYAH REGION East, of the village of Tarkumyah (which lies nothwest of Hebron), in the

Tarkumyah forest, it is proposed to establish a large community settlement, Tirat-Horesh, which is slated for 150 families within a year of its establish¬ ment and for 400 families five years later. For its services the settlement will rely on the Etzion Bloc settlements to the north, or, alternatively, on the settlements of the Mount Hebron slopes, to the west and the south.

ADO RAYIM BLOC Here, two settlements can be established : at the Dorah junction, east of

Sikha village, it is proposed to establish a community settlement to be based on a combination of agriculture and industry. To be called Adorayim, the settlement would have 100 families within one year and 300 families within five years. It is also proposed to establish a new agricultural settlement, Eiton (near Tel Eiton), where 50 families would live within the first year and 100 families after five years.

YATIRBLOC Here, too, settlements would be established on both sides of the green line

which together would constitute one unified bloc. There are in this area two settlements at present : Yatir (Ardon) and Lutsifer. For each of them an additional 100 families is proposed for the first year and 300 within five years. Also planned for this area is an agricultural settlement, Kramim (50-100 families).

In addition to these three settlements it is proposed to establish another five new community settlements to be based on agriculture, industry and tourism : Raveh (at the Rahaveh police station site, northeast of Kramim), Yatir B, Yatir C, Yatir D (all three of them northeast of Yatir), Susiya (at the site of the ancient synagogue notheast of Samua). Each of these five settlements would have 100 families in the first year and 300 families five years later.

153

It should be noted that at the impressive site of the ancient synagogue, as well as at Yatir and environs a tourist project could be set up which would provide employment to many families in the area.

AMOS REGION In the area of Rujm-a-Nakah (between Nahal Amos and Nahal Arugot,

northeast of Hebron) it is proposed to establish a large community settle¬ ment to be called Amos. It would have 150 families in its first year and 400 families at the end of five years.

This settlement, along with others to be established to its east, could from a territorial continuity with the settlements planned for the Dead Sea shore¬ line, including the already existing Mitspeh Shalem. It is proposed that the Amos Region settlements be linked with Tekoah and with the Etzion Bloc settlements by means of a Judean transverse road to be paved from east to west, extending to the settlements of the Mount Hebron slopes and the Adulam District.

ADUMIM BLOC The temporary settlement of Maaleh Adumim already exists there, along

with its adjacent industrial zone. The permanent urban settlement is now under construction at a site near Aizariyah, just outside Jerusalem, and where an additional 300 families would take up residence in the first year and 1,500 families within five years. Also in the area is the settlement of Mitzpeh Jericho, for which an additional 100 families is proposed in the first year of the plan and 300 after five years. In addition to these two settlements it is proposed to establish a series of three new settlements which will form a territorial continuity with the Beit-El Bloc settlements to the north : Pe’era (Maaleh Adumim B, near Ain Farah), which is to be a large community settlement based mainly on tourism and holidaying, to be inhabited by 150 families in the first year and 400 families five years later ; Maaleh Adumim C, north of Pe’era ; and still further north Maaleh Adumim D — the latter two being community settlements meant to be inhabited by 300 families each within five years.

BEIT-EL BLOC Four community settlements have already been established in this Bloc :

Beit El (where it is proposed to add 400 families within five years), Ofra (an additional 300 families), Rimonim and Kohav HaShahar (for each of which it is proposed to add 300 families within five years). East of Kohav HaShahar it is proposed to establish a new community settlement, Kohav HaShahar B, to be inhabited by 100 families within one year and by 300 families within five years.

EPHRAIM BLOC New settlements to go up in this Bloc will form a territorial continuity with

the Jordan Rift settlements. At present there are three settlements in this area, Gitit, Maaleh Ephraim and Mevoh Shiloh. It is proposed to establish a new community settlement, Mevoh Shiloh B, west of Mehov Shiloh, which would have 100 families in the first year and 300 families at the end of five years.

154

SHILOH BLOC Two community settlements have already been established here : Shiloh and

Tapuah (it is proposed to add 300 families to each of them within five years of the project’s implementation).

Another three community settlements could be established in this area, with each of them having 100 families in their first year and 300 families five years later : Shiloh B, at the Batan Hiluah site (west of Shiloh), Shiloh C, at the Jabl Batan site (northwest of Shiloh B) and Shiloh D, on Jabl Rawat (northeast of Shiloh C.)

EL ON MOREH REGION In this area, southeast of Nablus, on Jabl Rujaib, it is proposed to establish a

large community settlement, Elon Moreh, to be inhabited by 400 families within five years of its establishment.

NAHAL TIRZAH REGION Near Nahal Tirzah, on Jabl Thayour, it is proposed to establish a large

community settlement (400 families within five years) called Tirzah.

III. Employment and Economic Branches in the Settlements

Employment and the economic basis of the residents in J&S will be in accordance with the nature of the settlement and the surrounding area. — In the urban settlements some 60% of the families will be employed in

industry, holidaying and tourism, and the rest in services and work outside the settlement. In the towns close to Jerusalem the proportion of those employed in outside work will be higher.

— In the community settlements the economic basis in the development stage will be as follows : about 50% of the families will earn their living from industry and handicrafts ; about 12% from capital-based intensive agriculture ; about 25% from outside work ; and about 13% from local services. The agricultural and the combined settlements will be based on agricul¬

tural branches (mainly intensive, depending on the means for production in the area), as well as on industry, handicrafts and tourism. Some of the settlers will engage in local and regional services.

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Index

ARRESTS: 33, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 50, 57, 64, 65, 68, 70, 74, 75,77,79,81,86,91,93,95,97, 99,101,102,103, 107,109,110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 124.

DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE OCCUPIER: 107 - 120, 126 - 133.

DETAINEES: 68, 128 ; - Tor¬ ture: 57, 62, 77, 82, 83, 89, 90; — Case histories of detainees: 42, 44, 57, 77, 82, 84, 90, 94, 95; — Detention conditions: (in Ramleh) 43 ; (Tulkarm) 49; (Neveh Tirza) 75; (Bir al-Sabe) 94 ; - Strikes: 43, 75, 115, 120, — Death of detainees: 94.

EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISH¬ MENTS : 113; — Armed aggres¬ sions against educational establishments: 50, 89, 93, 109, 114, 116 ; — Closure of establish¬ ments: 44, 63, 64, 86, 108, 109,

111,115,116,117 ; — Suspension from studies: 45, 46, 86 ; — Transfer of students/teachers: 43, 45, 50, 110, 120 ; - Econo¬ mic reprisals: 55, 98 ; — Teaching conditions: 120.

HOLY PLACES : - Al-Aqsa Mosque: 54, 111; — Al-Ibrahimi Mosque: 106, 107 ; — Haram al- Sharif: 115.

JERUSALEM: 107, 112, 114, 115, 118, 120, 121, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133 ; - State¬ ments on the annexation of the city: 11, 14, 15, 21, 23, 29 ; - Settlement projects: 11, 15, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30 ; —Settlements and expropriation of land in Jerusalem and its suburbs: 10,25, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 56, 57, 59, 66, 71,72, 79, 81,96 ; — Actions against the population and its institutions: 39, 42, 45, 50, 54, 65, 80, 86, 90, 91, 95, 98, 111, 112,113,117,128.

156

MARTYRS OF THE RESIS¬ TANCE: 52, 53, 94.

MUNICIPALITIES: 37, 45, 46, 52, 67, 70, 74, 75, 82, 86, 88, 95,103,107,121,122.

PALESTINIAN COMMUNI¬ QUES: 106, 107, 108,109, 114, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 131, 133, 134.

PALESTINIAN CONGRESSES: 114, 115, 120, 123, 125, 126, 127,129,132,133.

POLICY OF ANNEXATION: 15; — Statements (West Bank and Gaza) 11, 31 ; (Golan) 18, 23, 24 ; — Administrative autonomy plan: 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19,20, 21,22, 23,24, 25.

REPRISALS: 25, 45, 64, 92, 95, 96, 100 ; — House arrest: 53, 99, 104 ; — Curfew: 41, 45, 46, 52, 53, 68, 74, 77, 96, 107, 109, 110, 113, 114, 116, 125 ; - Demolition of houses: 42, 54, 67, 83, 102, 104 ; — Expulsion from the occupied territories: 40 ; — Sealing up of houses: 37, 43, 67, 69 ; — Searches: 45, 46, 53,68,77,92,95,96, 107, 117.

SENTENCES: 107, 109 ; - to imprisonment: 41, 43, 53, 54, 57,62,65,69,71.73,76,80,81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 96, 113;— to fines: 45, 47, 50, 53, 74, 77, 90, 113, 118; - for

joining the resistance: 40, 42, 48, 54, 57, 58, 71, 75, 81, 84, 86, 90,96,101,102.

SETTLEMENTS. 11, 13, 15, 27; — Statements on settlements by Zionist leaders: 10, 14, 20, 23, 26,30;— Budgets: 10, 13, 18, 27, 29, 31 ; — Projects: 20, 24, 29, 30, 31 ; (Jewish Agency): 15, 18,20,29 ; (Sharon): 11,26; (Defense): 21, 27 ; (Gush Emu- nim): 10, 21 ; — New settlements and settlements under construc¬ tion: 10, 11, 25, 26, 32, 33, 38, 39, 41, 45, 47, 48, 56, 57, 59, 60, 64, 66, 71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 89, 90, 91, 96, 99, 100, 101, 105 ; - Land expropriation: 12, 13,19,22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 33, 38, 39, 40, 42, 46, 47, 55, 56, 59, 66, 72, 78, 82, 83, 85, 87, 90, 93, 99, 102 ; — Spoliation of water resources: 11,13,18,20,33,34, 37, 60, 78 ; — Regional and local councils: 4, 54, 60, 65, 75, 104 ; — Actions by settlers: 18, 20 ; (with the aim of settling) 33, 60, 66, 78, 91, 100, 101 ^Aggres¬ sions against Palestinians): 52, 53, 54, 60, 61, 62, 89, 91, 95, 98.

SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOMS: (Cultural, of association, expres¬ sion, meeting and movement): 15, 25, 43, 45, 46, 55, 64, 67, 70, 74, 77, 78, 82, 83, 85, 88, 95,97, 106, 109,110,114, 116, 129.

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